Brazil nuts (castañas)

Madre de Dios is the only department in Peru where the beautiful giant Brazil nut tree grows. The forests of neighbouring Bolivia and Brazil are also home to this highly-prized rainforest product.

A typical tree will reach maturity in about 15 years, though maximum production is not reached for at least 25 years, after which the tree, which can live for 100 to 200 years, can produce a crop of 300 coconut-sized fruit per year. Within this extremely hard fruit are arranged an average of 15 Brazil nuts.

During the first months of the rainy season the fruit, which take two years to develop, fall to the ground and is collected by the many "castañeros", people who hold collecting concessions up and down the major rivers around Puerto Maldonado (the major processing and export centre), and who are responsible for gathering the nuts from the virgin forest. A 50 kg bag of nuts will typically fetch $60-$70 on the Puerto Maldonado market.

The Ecology of Brazil nut trees.
Brazil nut trees have never yielded to domestication and produce very poorly in a plantation system. Research has revealed that the tree has a very specialized pollination system requiring the attention of only a handful of small Euglossine bee species. Moreover, the tree only flowers for two or three days a year. In addition, Euglossine bees are only found in undisturbed forest, as they rely on specific orchid species for their own survival. Orchids are extremely sensitive plants and do not grow in disturbed or secondary forest.

The natural regeneration of this tree is also interesting. It relies on the humble Agouti (Dasyprocta sp.) to open the hard fruit and release the nuts. The nuts germinate more readily if buried and the Agouti is adept, tending to hoard or bury food during times of plenty. The tree relies on swamping the Agouti with nuts and takes advantage of its stashing ability. Over time an Agouti will forget where some nuts are buried or will die, enabling the nut to germinate successfully.

The Brazil nut, or eco-nut, as it is often called, is what is classed as a non-timber forest product (NTFP). The future of many rainforest areas will depend on such products, increasing as they do the value to local people of intact forest. There are many NTFPs such as fruit, dyes and medicines, just waiting to be exploited. Although sustainable exploitation has begun, an increased awareness of the true economic value of forest products is needed, as then and only then will intact forests compete on an even footing against the interests of those who want to see fields of corn or huge cattle ranches replace the trees.