In Possible Amazons, we wanted to portray how traditional knowledge is part of this rich cultural experience of the Amazon, but, at the same time, they also have a lot to contribute to its development. The Pirarucu Game was a game in which we were inspired by a story we experienced on a trip in 2019 to the region of Santarém, Pará. We traveled by boat for almost an hour and a half to a riverside community, which was just at the height of the river. We had this coexistence there for a day, with this community, and they told a story where researchers from UFOPA, Federal University of West Pará, had visited this community with a project to have a methodology there to count the number of pirarucu present in the Amazonian lakes, in order to manage this species, where you can only fish a specific amount so as not to end the population of that species in the lake. And they told the UFOPA researchers that they were very grateful that they were there, receiving support, but that they also had their own technique for counting pirarucus… Because pirarucus breathes atmospheric air, it needs to come to the surface to breathe this air. And, every 20 minutes, they could see the number of pirarucus just by counting the little mouths rising on the surface of the lake. That’s what inspired the Pirarucu Game.

In Amazônias Possíveis, the last room of the exhibition, we have the great challenge of stimulating reflection on what is the future we want for the Amazon and what are the solutions to keep the forest standing. Here, in this room, you will find the pirarucu game, which values the knowledge of traditional, indigenous and local populations to stimulate an economy based on social biodiversity.
We also have the ATTO – Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, which is a representation of the importance of science to understand the complexity of forest interactions.
And we also have testimonials with the wishes and visions of Amazonians, indigenous people and scientists for what they believe are the most sustainable paths to the largest tropical forest in the world.
Our main desire with Fruturos is to shed light on the real possibility of a new socioeconomic model for the Amazon, anchored in three pillars: traditional knowledge, scientific knowledge and standing forest. Our hope is that you leave this visit with the same desire.

In this module on Amazônias Possíveis, it is important to emphasize the role of science in the development of a socioeconomic model that is sustainable for the Amazon Forest. One of the examples of this scientific dynamism of Amazonian science is the Torre Atto (Atto Tower), which is a unique laboratory in the world. It is a 325-meter-tall tower that is a very good example of how we can use science to better understand the processes that control the Amazon ecosystem, understand the role of rain in the carbon cycle, the role of nutrients, the role of dust transported from the Sahara desert to the Amazon ecosystem, among many other processes that control the health of the Amazon ecosystem and that are still poorly understood.
So, this “Possible Amazon” scenario is a scenario where science is used to develop socioeconomic models that are sustainable for the future of the Amazon Forest.