management of astrocaryum chambira (arecaceae) for
TRANSCRIPT
Management of Astrocaryum chambira (Arecaceae) for
handicraft production in the Colombian Amazon
Néstor García1 & Gloria Galeano2
Astrocaryum chambira (chambira or cumare)
is one of the most important palm species for
the indigenous communities of the
northwestern Amazon, as the fibers obtained
from its unexpanded leaves are used to make
a great variety of handicrafts. In the last
decades, chambira products have gained
great acceptance among tourists and craft
stores, and the palm has become an
important source of cash income for
indigenous families. The frequent extraction,
sometimes done in a destructive way, has
caused depletion of natural populations at
some places. In order to generate
recommendations for its sustainable
management, we studied the use and
management of the palm among the
indigenous people in the southern Colombian
Amazon.
Species and study area Astrocaryum chambira is a solitary and spiny
palm, to 27 m tall. It grows in the western
Amazon region, from Venezuela to Peru and
western Brazil; in Colombia it grows in wet
lowlands, in terra firme, and in gallery forests at
100–500 m of elevation; it is scarce in forests,
and is often planted or preserved in slash-and-
burn plots.
Methods We used semistructured interviews and field
observations to characterize chambira harvest,
processing, and marketing. Between 2009 and
2012 we visited four communities and two
marketing centers, where eight women and four
men were interviewed. Additional information
from other areas was gathered from published
and gray literature. In order to assess the state of
populations and the availability of the resource,
we recorded palms using plots or transects at
three harvest places, as well as an area where
the palm is not used. Leaf production rate was
calculated following 50 palms during one year.
The use of chambira fiber has been recorded among 21 aboriginal groups in the Colombian Amazon, where hand bags, bracelets, hammocks, necklaces,
placemats, trays and a great variety of other artifacts are made out of it. Harvested palms are found near human settlements, both in active crop plots and in
old plots, fallows, and secondary forests. Current management of chambira ranges from sparing individuals and favoring their development, to totally
elimination of plants for harvest. Additionally, some informants claim that the ancestral use of transplanting seedlings into their forest plots is still practiced.
Fiber is obtained from unexpanded leaves of the largest acaulescent or of the lowest stemmed palms. Large acaulescent palms appropriate for harvest had
4–9 leaves, each with 78–116 leaflets per side (X: 97.38; DS: 11.38; n: 16); it takes a palm 19 years to reach the minimum size of harvest and produces less
than two leaves per year on average (X: 1.59; DS: 0.81; n: 43). Lowest stemmed palms are usually individuals with a stem up to 2.2 m tall, with 6-17 leaves
(X: 10.67; DS: 3.93; n: 6), mostly not yet reproductive, and they produce ca. 3 leaves per year (X: 2.89; DS: 0.44; n: 32). Spear leaves are harvested when
they are close to expanding, and measure 3.5–4 (–6) m long.
Fibers are twisted to produce strong strings, from which the handicrafts are made. On average, 150–180 g (X: 164; DS: 11.14; n= 5) of dry fiber are obtained
from a spear leaf, and this amount produces 133–159 m of string (1 m = 1.13 g). One or two spear leaves are required to produce a hand bag, and up to
eight to produce a hammock (Table 1). Although chambira handicrafts are found throughout the Colombian Amazon region, the market for chambira products
is centered at the towns of Leticia and Puerto Nariño, and at most indigenous villages along the Amazon River, the areas most visited by tourists. Revenues
from chambira represent 40–100% of all cash incomes of indigenous families involved in fiber harvesting and processing. The highest income is obtained
when products are sold directly to tourists at the indigenous villages. When products are sold in shops in Leticia or Puerto Nariño, revenues decrease up to
more than 50%.
Cutting down taller palms to get the spear leaves is an obstacle for the sustainable management of chambira in the Amazon basin. Our data reveal a
scarcity of stemmed palms in areas of intense use near Leticia (Table 2). Artisans claim that at some communities along the Amazon River there are no
more productive palms, and people must buy fiber in neighboring areas in Colombia or Peru.
Based on our own data we recommend: to harvest every other leaf, which would mean 1 leaf/palm/yr in acaulescent palms, and 1–2 leaves/palm/yr in
stemmed palms; to introduce appropriate tools for harvesting; and to harvest the leaflets of acaulescent palms without cutting the spear leaf.
Throughout the northwestern Amazon, chambira is one of the few sources of local income for indigenous people, and therefore it remains important in spite
of unfair prices. The future of the craft will be linked to a regional developmental strategy focused on non-destructive harvest, enriched agroforestry
systems, and better market chains.
Astrocaryum chambira growing in Amazon homegardens, Colombia
Tikuna man harvesting A. chambira spear leaves Tikuna woman processing A. chambira leaflets Tikuna woman Twisting A. chambira fibers
Bracelets made with A. chambira fibers Hans bag made with A. chambira fibers
Table 1. Some products made by the Tikuna of the Colombian Amazon River using A. chambira fiber. Time of manufacture includes
only string twisting and product weaving.
Table 2. Density of A. chambira at two localities of the Colombia Amazon
Tikuna man harvesting A. chambira spear leaves
Hábito de Astrocaryum standleyanum
1 Departamento de Biología. Facultad de Ciencias. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá. e-mail: [email protected]
2 Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Apartado 7495, Bogotá. e-mail: [email protected]
Acknowledgments. Inhabitants of San Martín de Amacayacu, Tarapacá, and La Chorrera (Colombian Amazon), Palm Harvest Impacts in Tropical Forest – PALMS (European Commission, contract No. 212631), COLCIENCIAS (grant No. 110148925263), DIB- Universidad Nacional
de Colombia (Project No. 15091), Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and program “Socios para la Conservación de la Amazonia-Andina Colombiana”.
Tikuna woman weaving handicrafts with A. chambira fibers
Product Weight (g) Number of leaves
Time of production (hr)
Price (USD)
Small hand bag (14x16 cm) 60 0.3 8 6
Medium-sized hand bag (26x27 cm)
190 1 25 14
Large hand bag (31x28 cm)
300 2 30 17
Large bracelet (4 cm wide)
13 0.08 3/4 3
Hammock 1300 8 160 51
Locality Individuals/ha
Total Seedlings Juveniles Subadults Adults
San Martín de Amacayacu 944 260 10 12 1226
km 13 road Leticia-
Tarapacá
160 390 15 10 575 Colombian Amazon indicating locations of villages, towns and rivers mentioned in the text