海角大神

Squinting into the late afternoon sun, Nelson Galv茫o leans against the trunk of a towering a莽a铆 palm. About 20 feet above his head, nestled into the crown of the palm, clusters of deep-purple听berries weigh down the tree鈥檚 slender branches.

鈥淎莽a铆 has been good to us,鈥� Mr. Galv茫o says. 鈥淚f you know how to care for it right, it brings in a good income. It鈥檚 our family鈥檚 survival.鈥�

For the last two decades, Mr. Galv茫o has been cultivating听a莽a铆, a tart berry native to the Amazon rainforest that has become a global health food sensation and a business worth nearly a billion dollars a year. About 2,000 a莽a铆 palms grow on his lot here, some 70 miles from the Amazon capital of Manaus, yielding enough pulp each harvest to earn him about $2,150, the equivalent of a minimum wage.

Mr. Galv茫o is working hard to make a living without destroying the forest. Instead of toppling trees, he restores the land by planting banana, pineapple, and 肠耻辫耻补莽耻 鈥� a close relative of cacao 鈥� in the gaps between his palms.

Ana Ionova

Luis Carlos Gomes, an a莽a铆 grower, holds a handful of the berries from his plantation in Autazes, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Mr. Gomes has been cultivating the Amazon fruit for more than a decade, and says demand has exploded as a莽a铆 has won global popularity.

鈥淕rowing up, I saw my parents clearing big pieces of land, clearing everything,鈥� Mr. Galv茫o says. 鈥淣ow I know that, if we just destroy without restoring, all this will come to an end.鈥�

Many of Mr. Galv茫o鈥檚 neighbors have chosen a different path though. The emerald jungle canopy here is fast giving way to cattle pasture, as in much of the Brazilian Amazon, and Mr. Galv茫o is feeling the impact.

A莽a铆 palms usually thrive in this sun-drenched corner of the Amazon, where flood plains swell during the rainy season to form a maze of land and water. This year, though, his trees yielded less as Brazil was hit by its worst drought in almost a century. Then this part of the Amazon was struck by devastating flash floods.

鈥淲e see these weather disasters and we really worry. We wonder about future harvests,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut the cattle ranchers 鈥� they are not worried. They cut, cut, cut. They deforest everything. And we, the small growers, are the ones who end up paying the price.鈥澨�听

A 鈥渨onder berry鈥� spreads

Mr. Galv茫o is not alone in his concerns for the future. The Brazilian Amazon is being razed and burned at a dizzying pace, with deforestation听,听despite government vows to curb the destruction. Scientists warn the rainforest is nearing a tipping point when it will turn into a savanna, with grave consequences for the climate. And a莽a铆 鈥� along with other native species 鈥� could disappear from swaths of the Amazon by 2050, researchers warn.

Ana Ionova

Luis Carlos Gomes climbs an a莽a铆 palm in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Mr. Gomes experienced the a莽a铆 boom firsthand. As he was growing up, the fruit had been a lunch staple rather than a business opportunity. Now, 12 years later, demand for the berry has grown exponentially.

鈥淪ome areas where a莽a铆 palms grow today will no longer be suitable in a future climate scenario,鈥� says Pedro Eisenlohr, professor at the State University of Mato Grosso and co-author of a recent study forecasting climate change in the Amazon.

鈥淭his poses a huge problem for the families鈥� living in such vulnerable areas, Professor Eisenlohr says, 鈥渂ecause they are counting on a莽a铆 for their survival. And it might not be there in the future because of climate change.鈥�

Full of fiber, a莽a铆 was a staple food in the Amazon long before it turned into a globally coveted superfood. For generations, Indigenous and traditional people harvested and ate the berries that grow on native palms near rivers at the edge of the jungle.

The popularity of this 鈥渨onder berry鈥� spread to gyms and surf shacks across Brazil in the 1990s. Before long, a莽a铆 made a name for itself abroad too and quickly amassed a loyal following, making its way into smoothies and protein bars in cities like Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo. Exports have grown more than a hundredfold听in the past 10 years.

And the growth has shown no signs of slowing. Last year, exports jumped by 50% from the year before, and globally, the听a莽a铆 market is now worth about $720 million annually, says Renata Guerreiro, project coordinator at the Terro谩 Institute, a nonprofit focused on sustainable development in the Amazon.

鈥淚t is a real force within the Amazon鈥檚 bio-economy,鈥� says Ms. Guerreiro, whose organization runs an initiative promoting sustainable production of a莽a铆. 鈥淎nd it carries enormous potential.鈥�

Marc Vasconcellos/The Enterprise/USA Today Network/Reuters

Felicia Soares makes an a莽a铆 bowl at Press It Juicery in North Easton, Massachusetts, on Oct. 5, 2021.

The surge in demand for the nutrient-packed berry has been welcome news in the Amazon, promising a path to prosperity for small-scale growers. Although some听 over the unbridled growth, fearing growers may raze virgin forest to make space for more a莽a铆, the berry has proved a sustainable source of income for most growers, often cultivated within the forest.

A rare bright spot

Luis Carlos Gomes experienced the a莽a铆 boom firsthand. When he was growing up, the fruit was a lunch staple rather than a business opportunity. When he started planting the berry 12 years ago, he was one of few growers in Autazes excited about its potential. But soon that changed.

鈥淏efore, there was no market for a莽a铆,鈥� Mr. Gomes says. 鈥淧eople only picked it for their families to eat. But, all of a sudden, our听a莽a铆 started selling and selling. And other people got excited about planting it too.鈥�

Mr. Gomes, one of the largest producers in the Autazes region, is making big plans for the future too. He hopes to start an a莽a铆 producers鈥� association, and he wants to plant more a莽a铆 on his 14-hectare lot, expanding from 8,000 palms to about 10,000.

鈥淥ut there in other countries, a莽a铆 has become well known and much loved by people,鈥� he says proudly. 鈥淲e hope the demand will only grow.鈥�

Today, some 120,000 families live from a莽a铆 production across Brazil, cultivating about 1.6 million metric tons of fruit per year, Ms. Guerreiro says. Further benefits could be gained if Brazilian companies processed more of the fruit locally.

The industry has come in for criticism due to allegations about the use of child labor, but as the destruction of the Amazon advances, a莽a铆 has emerged as a rare bright spot in the fight to save the rainforest.听Projects promoting the sustainable cultivation of the berry aim to make preserving the forest more lucrative than razing it. In already deforested areas, planting more a莽a铆 is also helping restore degraded forests while providing local people with an income.

鈥淎莽a铆 is really important for the generation of sustainable income in the Amazon,鈥� Ms. Guerreiro says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 also a key to preservation, as long as it is grown in a way that minimizes impact ... and its expansion is done in a sustainable way.鈥�

Now that climate change is threatening the a莽a铆 palms, environmentalists worry that some growers, unable to make a living from the forest standing, will move to raze it, turning the land into pasture.

Mr. Gomes also worries about what climate change might mean for his a莽a铆 trees. Still, for now, he says the future is bright.

鈥淭he droughts, the floods 鈥� it all worries me, of course,鈥� he says, steadying a ladder as his son climbs up a palm in search of the very last berries of the harvest. 鈥淏ut we are doing our part. We are planting trees. And we鈥檙e putting our faith in a莽a铆.鈥�