2018

AMAZON RIVER

Amazon River (Shah)

Sophie-Louise Williams
GESS I&S Class 9A
12/10/2018
Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................2
2. RIVER SYSTEM OVERVIEW ...............................................................................................................3
2.1 Map of the river system...........................................................................................................3
2.2 Key characteristics ...................................................................................................................3
3. RIVER SYSTEM ISSUES ......................................................................................................................4
3.1 Identification of key issues ......................................................................................................4
3.2 Causes of key issues .................................................................................................................4
3.3 Who is affected by key issues ..................................................................................................4
4. MANAGEMENT STRATEGY ...............................................................................................................5
4.1 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................5
4.2 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................5
References ...............................................................................................................................................5

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Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

1. INTRODUCTION
I am a representative of WWF and this report is being written on behalf of water and river
management team from Peru to help understand the problems of the Amazon River and
help save the Amazon Rainforest and River.

The Amazon River is the Water source for the Amazon Rainforest, which is known as the
Lungs of the world. The number of trees in the Rainforest produce 20% of the world’s
oxygen. The Rainforest is the world’s largest ecosystem. The Amazon Rainforest covers 40%
of south America (ineonova). The river also covers 30% of South America. The river is made
of fresh water and it drains 20% of the earths fresh water into the ocean (Parsons).

The amazon river has many species living inside the river including the Inia geoffrensis
(Amazon River dolphin). These species are only found in the Amazon river and the dolphins
are already an endangered species potentially facing extinction. Two main issues connected
to the sustainable management of the river dolphin are the introduction of mercury into the
Amazon River from mining activities and secondly the consequences of overfishing in the
Amazon.

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Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

2. RIVER SYSTEM OVERVIEW

2.1 Map of the river system
2.2 Key characteristics
The Amazon River is the largest drainage system in the world. Its length being 6,400km long
(Parsons) makes the river slightly shorter than the River Nile being 6,853km. Many people
still believe that it is the longest river, but with enough research you can see that the River
Nile is 453km longer than the amazon river.
The length of the river is measured from
south Peru from the Ucayali-Apurimac River
where the river source is, to its mouth. The
river’s mouth is in south brazil and flows
into the Atlantic Ocean as shown in Figure
1. The rivers source is in the Andes
Mountains, 160km away from the Pacific
Ocean. The length of the river is the same as
Figure 1 mouth of Amazon River (Meyer) the distance from Rome all the way to New
York City (Schultz). The
Amazon river is the largest
river when measured with
volume. Its basin size is
2,720,000 Sq. miles and it
discharges more water than
any other river. The river
covers three countries: Brazil,
Peru and Colombia as shown
in Figure 2 (Diary). The
Amazon river floods at
different times of the year.
Many areas flood in February
up until June, and others start
and recede two months earlier Figure 2 map of the Amazon river (Larvey)
(Smith).

There are Dolphins in the Amazon River.

They are known as the pink river dolphins.
These dolphins are the largest type of river
dolphin. They can get up to 185kg (352lb)
and 2.5 meters (9.2ft) as shown in Figures 3
& 4. The pink river dolphins used to be kept
Figures 3 & 4 The amazon captive in dolphinariums. between 1950 and
river dolphin (Wikipedia) 1970 there were around 100 dolphins being
kept captive, only 20 survived. Now there
are only three dolphins in dolphinariums: one in Venezuela, one in Peru and one in
Germany. These dolphins are known and loved for their pink colour (Gravena).

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Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

3. RIVER SYSTEM ISSUES

3.1 Identification of key issues
3.2 Causes of key issues
3.3 Who is affected by the key issues
The key issues in the Amazon river include gold mining and overfishing. Mining is causing
mercury to enter the river, which is hurting the animals that live in and drink the water. This
also affect the people living around the river that use the river as a food source. The fish in
the river are full of mercury from the mining. This can cause mercury poisoning to the
humans and animals eating the fish. The reason for this is bioaccumulation. This is where a
chemical is introduced to a species, but it takes longer to get rid of it gain it (Carter).
Mercury is the chemical in this case. The amount of mercury inside the water is harming the
river by the mercury being used by all the environment. It is causing all the animals to have
mercury running through them. this affected the animals, the river and the environment
around them. Gold mining is also harming the pink river dolphins. The dolphins eat the fish
in the river which are full of mercury, causing them to get sick. The most common fish for
the dolphins to eat is catfish. Catfish are bottom feeders, which means that they eat the
materials on the bottom of the river. Mercury falls t the bottom of the river, because it is a
metal and the catfish eat it causing them harm and the dolphins eating them (Rojo).
The dolphins are also being used as bait for the catfish (mota). These catfish are a common
fish in the fisheries creating high prices on the fish. This is economically good for the
company, but the dolphins are being killed. The
pink river dolphins (Inia geoffrensis) is an
endangered species. If the fisheries keep using
them as bait, they will become even more
extinct (Rojo).

WWF is trying to help save the dolphins by

placing GPS tags on the pink river dolphin to
track them and make sure they don’t get
harmed. This way they can track down
companies that are killing the dolphins and
stop it all together (Rojo).

Figure 5 WWF placing GPD tags on the pink river

Overfishing has also caused problems in the
dolphins (Rojo)
ecosystem. The river is being drained of its fish
and is causing many fish to become extinct.
(WWF)

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Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

4. MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
4.1 Recommendations

Overfishing is common to all three countries. Fishing is of economic importance and

provides an important food source. Equitable access is an issue because how can we ensure
one country is not fishing more than another. How do we make it equal? Can the three
countries agree to not overfish and not use dolphins as bait? My recommendation is to
ensure sustainable management of fishing stocks by all three countries to keep monitoring
on the fish stocks and to insure an appropriate amount of each type of species. In an
ecosystem like a river it is important to have all the species in a food web.

Mining is also common in all three countries. Mining is important for economic reasons.
Mining is causing too much mercury in the river and is harming the wildlife. With all three
countries working in the mines around the Amazon river it makes it hard to stop or reduce.
As I have recommended in the previous paragraph about overfishing that the countries
could ensure suitable management. I would recommend this for mining as well. I also
recommend that the three countries keep monitoring how much mining is being done in
each country. The countries could also have an external authority to do regular checks on
how much pollution there is in the mines and can check if the ground water is not to
polluted around the mines. They can then fine them if they continue to produce heavy
metals like mercury in to the river. The mercury will also cause fish to become harder to
keep as a main food source and cause many deaths through mercury poisoning.

4.2 Conclusion

The Amazon River is a complex system, important to three South American countries for
economic and ecological reasons. It provides water drainage for 20% of the earths fresh
water (Parsons). With three countries responsible for the management of the Amazon River
it is understandable that cooperation for sustainable management of mining and fishing
activities along the length of the river is difficult. My research question was ‘To what extent
has human activity along the amazon river endangered the species Inia geoffrensis (Amazon
River dolphin)?’ Based on my research the two major issues facing the biodiversity of the
amazon river are mining and over fishing.

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Amazon River Sophie-Louise Williams, I&S Class E-9A

REFERENCES
Shah, Shikha. “Peru: Trees like Giants in the Amazon Jungle, Pink Dolphins Frolick and Shamans Make Magical Brews.” The
Economic Times, Economic Times, 24 Dec. 2017, economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/peru-trees-like-
giants-in-the-amazon-jungle-pink-dolphins-frolick-and-shamans-make-magical-
brews/articleshow/62225885.cms?from=mdr.

Schultz, Alarich R., et al. “Amazon River.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Sept. 2018,
www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River.

Meyer, Robinson. “Scientists Have Discovered a 600-Mile Coral Reef.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 25 Apr. 2016,
www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/scientists-discover-a-new-coral-reef-at-the-amazons-mouth/479259/.

ineonova. “The Amazon: The World´s Largest Rainforest.” Amazon Swim (Martin Strel), 16 June 2007,
www.amazonswim.com/main.php?S=1&Folder=1.

Diary, Watch. “8 Facts About Amazon River That Will Blow Your Mind.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Nov. 2015,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTTy4DyICcg.

Wikipedia. “Amazon River.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_River.

Larvey, Peggy. “Map of Amazon River | Famous Rivers in 2018 | Pinterest | Amazon River, Amazon and River.” Pinterest,
Pinterest, 8 May 2018, www.pinterest.com/pin/423197696205598284/.

Parsons, James J., et al. “Amazon River.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Sept. 2018,
www.britannica.com/place/Amazon-River#ref41683.

Rojo, Jamie. “Amazon River Dolphin (Pink Dolphins).” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, 2018,
www.worldwildlife.org/species/amazon-river-dolphin.

Smith, Nigel J.H. (2003). Amazon Sweet Sea: Land, Life, and Water at the River's Mouth. University of Texas Press. pp. 1–
2. ISBN 978-0-292-77770-5. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015.

Gravena, Waleska; Farias, Izeni P.; Silva, Maria N. F. da; Silva, Vera M. F. da; Hrbek, Tomas (2014-06-01). "Looking to the
past and the future: were the Madeira River rapids a geographical barrier to the boto (Cetacea: Iniidae)?".

Carter, Kari Norborg. “The Effects of Bioaccumulation on the Ecosystem.” Sciencing.com, Sciencing, 6 Dec. 2018,
sciencing.com/effects-bioaccumulation-ecosystem-13721.html.

WWF. “Fish Management in the Amazon Floodplains.” WWF, 2017,

wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/vision_amazon/models/natural_resources_managemen
t_amazon/fish_management/.

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