Brazilian researchers started a journey along 400 kilometers of the upper Amazon River as part of an environmental program. The jump off point for the trip will be the city of Manaus.
An interesting note: in Brazil, the Amazon River above Manaus, all the way to the border with Peru (some 1,620 kilometers), is called the Solimões River (rio Solimões).
Only after the Solimões joins the Negro River (near Manaus) is it then called the Amazon.
The researchers are part of the Piatam program, which will study potential impact and environmental risks by the petroleum and gas industry in the region.
The program is coordinated by the Federal University of the Amazon (Universidade Federal do Amazonas) (UFAM) and Brazil’s state-run petroleum company, Petrobras.
At the moment, Petrobras is transporting petroleum from its Urucu fields along the stretch of river the program will be researching.
The researchers will visit riverside inhabitants and assist them in improving their quality of life by giving courses and transmitting information.
ABr
