Árvore da vida: história e destruição dos carnaubais no Vale do Açu/RN (1975-1987)

Abstract

The screen research is aimed to analyze the proposal to eradicate the carnauba palm from the Açu Valley, in the context of the agricultural modernization process, organized by DNOCS. On the prism of environmental history, we will discuss the debate carried out by various social actors about the issue and the impacts on the extractive economy. For the development of the research, the methodology was guided by the mapping, the interrogation and the dialogue with the sources, refering to the thematic, spatial and temporal cuts established for this work, but without assigning a hierarchical value dimension to a given typology of source, above all focusing on the crossroads and dialogues between them. In order to reach the proposed objectives, we used a range of possibilities, including: specific literature on the subject, newspapers, specialized magazines, photographs, technical reports, electronic journals and documentaries. The carnauba represents an important element in the dynamics of the social, economic and cultural arrangements of the Açu Valley. With the agricultural modernization, the carnauba losts its importance as a product that allowed wealth production and accumulation by the rural aristocracy, but it continues to fulfill an extremely relevant social function, which is to generate work and income for the poorest layers of the population in the dry season. It is observed that the agricultural modernization caused changes in the productive axis of the region, bringing dramatic results for social actors linked to the rural universe.