Putumayo River, Amazon tributary between Colombia and Brazil
The Putumayo is a river that stretches across roughly 1,800 km from the Colombian Andes through to the Brazilian rainforest, where it flows into the Amazon. Its waters pass through an area with many different habitats and connect several countries through its natural channels.
The area experienced a major economic shift in the late 1800s through the rubber boom, which brought great suffering for many people. The British government later investigated serious abuses in this region, which attracted international attention.
The communities living along the Putumayo have kept their own ways of using and living with the river, with knowledge about its ways passed from one generation to the next. You see this in how people fish and steer their boats, showing how closely their lives are tied to the water.
Boats travel regularly along the river and connect remote villages and towns with each other for people and goods. The best time to travel is during the wetter months, when the water level is higher and navigation becomes easier.
An expedition team discovered over one thousand different animal species in this basin, some of which had never been scientifically described before. This variety shows how important this river is for life in the rainforest.
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