April
2007

A traveler from Ceará, on his way to Curitiba, changed his route when he learnt of the existence of an organic and biodynamic farm in the sertão of Paraíba.

Born in São Paulo, Luiz Torres, 50 years of age, with a degree in information technology, set up residence in Ceará seven years ago due to the availability of water, the good, beautiful place, the wonderful people and the low cost of living.

Being a supporter of a more conscientious and ecological lifestyle, he decided to cycle from Jijoca de Jericoacaora, in Ceará, to the National Meeting of Alternative Communities in Curitiba, which will take place in the first week of July.

He reached Fazenda Tamanduá on March 9, and was enchanted by the production, the people, the natural landscapes. What was intended to be only a quick visit was extended to four days, during which, among other things, he taught us how to make a “solar stove”.

The solar stove uses low-cost material: two corrugated cardboard boxes, one inside the other, with the space between them filled with old newspaper (working as thermal insulation); the surface is then coated with aluminum foil, and a dark-colored sheet of metal is placed in the bottom. The box is covered with a transparent plastic sheet, fixed with elastic, so that the sunlight can penetrate.

As a demonstration for the people at the Farm, Luiz prepared rice, placing it in a dark pan and adding water and seasoning, as we usually prepare it. The box stayed exposed to the sun during the whole morning, and by lunch time the food was ready and hot, without the cost of the usual gas or charcoal.

Luiz Torres left his town in search of liberty, without boundaries. He does not aim to travel an exact number of kilometers per day, he just wants to pedal on, without adverse concerns.

He used to say that he was only a traveler, not a tourist. In his short visit to Fazenda Tamanduá, he observed sustainable development and organic agriculture and livestock raising, made new friends, and even took the risk of making new dishes using the Swiss cheeses that are produced at the Farm.

His next stop is still an open question. All we can do is to wish him good luck on his journey.

Alysson is carrying out an original research project at Fazenda Tamanduá, studying bees – the great (though discreet) pollinators of our sertão, even if they do not produce honey.

But we’ll let him explain his work himself:

Recently, the Brazilian bush area known as the Caatinga was recognized as one of the 37 great natural regions of the planet. “Great natural regions” are ecosystems that still hold at least 70% of their original vegetation cover and occupy areas larger than 100,000 sq. km, and are therefore considered strategic in the context of global changes.

Up to the moment, the following have been recorded in this biome: 932 species of vascular plants; 185 species of fish; 154 species of reptiles and amphibians, 348 species of birds; 148 species of mammals; and 187 species of bees. In these groups of organisms, total endemism ranges from 4.3% to 57% (MMA, 2002; Zanella & Martins, 2003; Leal et al., 2003).  

The insect fauna associated with the caatinga is not very well known, and fauna surveys in the caatinga area are fundamental in order to acquire knowledge of the taxonomic and functional structures of the biodiversity.

These areas were classified as being of extreme biological importance (27 areas), very high biological importance (12 areas), and high biological importance (18 areas), in addition to the category of potential importance, but still very little known (25 areas).

In the workshop on the preservation of biodiversity in the Caatinga, it was recognized that this ecosystem requires several urgent measures for its preservation, and a map with the location of priority areas for study and preservation was created. On this map, the Cariri Paraibano and the Seridó / Borborema areas, among others, appear as areas of extreme biological importance for the preservation of general biodiversity (MMA, 2002).

Emphasizing the role and value of pollinating species (such as bees) in maintaining the vegetable resources and the economic return that can be obtained, in the long term, may be a solution and a chance to slow down the destruction process. The economic contribution of pollinating insects (including bees) in relation to cultivated plants has been estimated at about US$ 500 million per year, in Europe alone (Williams, 2002). The production of about 30% of all the vegetables we consume depends on a bee as a means of pollination (Buchmann & Nabham, 1996). If we take into consideration the costs of dealing with cultivated plants, native bees, among them the solitary species, are the most important pollinators (Corbet, 1996).

Some solitary bees (Centris, Xylocopa, Gaesischia and Ptiloglossa) are specialists in flowers that occur in a low density pattern, and are capable of flying long distances over extensive areas searching for resources of flowers with this kind of strategy (Rebêlo, 2001). In the near future, these bees will be important vectors in the development of sustainable agriculture in the region. In addition, another great contribution of bees to the caatinga areas, at present, is related to their possible capacity for bio-indication of environmental quality: a standard for the structure of the bee community can serve as an indicator of the degradation level or the degree of human interference.

With the objective of characterizing some ecological and structural aspects of the bee communities in caatinga areas in the Northeast region of Brazil, and the later use of these communities’ structural standards as indicators of environmental quality in characterization studies of impacted areas and/or environmental impact studies, we propose to write a doctoral thesis entitled “Bee Communities (Hymenoptera: Apoidea Apiformis) in Caatinga Areas of Northeastern Brazil”.

One of the places chosen for the research, thanks its very good infra-structure, was Fazenda Tamanduá. Within the farm, two areas were chosen, one considered to be in a good state of preservation (the Private Nature Reserve) and another area characterized as pasture, with a sufficient distance between them (at least 4 km). These areas were then divided into four sub-areas of similar size. Samples of bees are collected from the flowers with an entomologist’s net, and the plants visited are also collected.

Alysson Kennedy P. Souza  / Biólogo e Mestre em Zoologia (UFPB)

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