Uso e manejo indígena de Pau-rainha (Centrolobium paraense Tul. Fabaceae) na Terra Indígena Araçá, RR

Abstract

Roraima has the largest continuous zone Amazon savannah, known as Lavrado or Campos do Rio Branco, where there are twenty-eight Indigenous Lands, which account for more than half (57%) of the area of this ecosystem. The importance of these areas for the conservation of the ecosystem is arising, and these areas are object of specific public policies, such as the National Policy of Environmental and Territorial Management in Indigenous Lands (PNGATI). Traditional practices of natural resource management should be studied so that policies can be effective. Thus, a study was carried out in Araçá Indigenous Land, about red-wood (Centrolobium paraense Tul.), one of the most important timber species in Lavrado. We studied indigenous folk knowledge and management of red-wood, the growth of sprouts in clearings and fruit characteristics and germination of this species in nursery. The main uses of this species are building houses and firewood; the management of the sprouts is a developing practice used by most of the people, and the main silvicultural practices are thinning and selection of sprouts. This study shows the existence of an indigenous agroforestry system involving the management of regrowth, in these areas the sprouts increase rapidly in height and circumference, after two years is possible that the area has a higher basal area and density of red-wood than it had before the cutting of trees for the opening of the garden, and the sprouts reach rafter sizes after 20 months of growth.