2023-10-19 16:39:00
On the edge of one of the world’s largest river archipelagos, entire riverside families have moved to canoes to be closer to the water.
The extreme drought in this part of the Amazon, which has left the Negro River at a level never seen before in recent history, has caused forced displacements and unimaginable ways of life and housing for a place normally so humid and marked by water courses in normal times.
The Anavilhanas river archipelago, between Manaus and Novo Airão (AM), has more than 400 islands and 60 lakes, along the course of the Negro River.
The historic drought has direct impacts. It creates more islands and sandbars, drains water, alters the landscape, makes streams disappear and isolates riverside communities.
A reporter from Sheet was in the archipelago and confirmed that, in addition to these effects, the extreme drought has been driving families towards the water.
Large canoes anchored on sandbanks have become homes, a way of life that has lasted months for some families and is expected to continue until December, according to the predictions of the riverside inhabitants themselves.
Translated by AZAHARA MARTÍN ORTEGA
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