Amazone : Un monde en partage

Description

History and culture of a major river.

A river that embodies territorial conflicts, both globally and locally.

A rich collection of black and white images.

Collection: 'Geohistory of a river'.

In the heart of the Amazon and its immense forest, precious for its biodiversity but threatened by massive deforestation, it is easy to forget that the world's largest river flows through it. Yet, as Brazilian novelist Leandro Tocantins wrote, in the Amazon, 'the river commands life'. Hervé Théry invites us to discover the Amazon, its inhabitants, but also its turbulent history, to encounter this shared world.

For the immense river basin has been and still is highly coveted. First by the colonial empires of Spain and Portugal, each of which appropriated a part of this space, often with disregard for the indigenous peoples. Then by nine nation states today, very attached to their territorial control, including Brazil, which owns two-thirds of it, and France, which is present there thanks to French Guiana. Conflicts have not disappeared, particularly between local populations and settlers from neighbouring cities (or even other continents) who have come to extract oil, raise cattle or plant soybeans.

While the Amazon has been at the heart of all regional activities for more than five centuries, the sudden emergence of roads and massive urbanisation since the 1960s have completely changed the situation. What new divisions exist today? How can we protect this river from the excesses of humanity?