Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Expedition to Identify Amazon's Birthplace

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 26 2007 (IPS) - Brazilian researchers are in the Peruvian Andes to determine where the Amazon River begins, and to collect local geographical and environmental data. The expedition left Sao Paulo on May 20 and was joined by Peruvian experts on the Andes before climbing the mountains to more than 5,500 meters above sea level. The team's initial findings will be released May 31 in Lima.

The information they collect will be added to satellite data for the first-ever systematic studies of the area, Oton Barros, expedition member from Brazil's National Space Research Institute, told Tierramérica.

Previous studies indicate the Carruhasanta and Apacheta streams, which form the Lloqueta River, as the origin of the Amazon. The one with greatest flow will be recognized as the true source, “but not the definitive”, according to Barros.