What is the Blue Amazon: you should know about this Brazilian treasure!

This is the Blue Amazon: more than 3 million square kilometres, an immeasurable value and yet unknown to a large part of the population. Have you ever heard of this region that represents approximately half of the Brazilian continental mass?

You can also listen to this article in the audio version.

Below, you will find out:

• What the Blue Amazon is;
• What the importance of the Blue Amazon for Brazil and the world is;
• What socioeconomic relationships are involved in one of the most important regions of the Brazilian territory.

What is the Blue Amazon and what is its importance?

The Blue Amazon is the oceanic strip that Brazil has the right to explore. A true-blue immensity, this region is made up of the sea surface, waters overlying the seabed, marine soil and subsoil contained in the part of the Atlantic that delineates from the coast to the limit of the Brazilian Continental Shelf.

The importance of the Blue Amazon lies in its potential for sustainable development, with a rich biodiversity. The regions belonging to this territory have unique beauties and contribute billions of Reais to tourism and other industries, not to mention the efforts with preservation and maintenance of these spaces.

This area corresponds to 3.6 million square kilometres, with the possibility of expansion to up to 5.7 million square kilometres as from the Study on the Outer Limit of the Brazilian Continental Shelf forwarded to the UN. The Brazilian region that comprises most of the Blue Amazon is the Northeast, which has a great potential for economic use from its riches in this territory.

Among the many ecological riches of this immensity, we can highlight the Abrolhos archipelago, which concentrates the largest marine biodiversity of the South Atlantic, with about 1,300 registered species.

As you can see in the image above, the Blue Amazon is divided into four main sections: the territorial sea, the Contiguous Zone, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and the Continental Shelf.

Two of these divisions stand out as being of greater strategic importance. In the Exclusive Economic Zone, the coastal state has sovereign rights for exploration and exploitation, management of living and non-living natural resources, and any activities aimed at exploring the EEZ for economic purposes, such as wind and hydraulic energy production.

On the Continental Shelf, following the criteria and conditions of Article 76 of the Law of the Sea, the coastal state also exercises its sovereign rights for exploration purposes, however, with a greater focus here on mineral resources.

The rights of the coastal state are exclusive in such a way that, if it does not explore the platform, no one else may undertake activities without the express consent of this state.

Blue Amazon and the connection to the Brazilian Navy

This is important territory for the ecology, economy, and Brazilian society, arousing interests of all kinds. Besides this, the Blue Amazon has a robust presence of the Brazilian Navy to control, monitor and defend the riches of the region.

Since the discovery of pre-salt oil reserves in areas adjacent to the Brazilian EEZ, the Navy has expanded its role in the defence of this space, carrying out monitoring operations and investing in projects such as nuclear submarines.

The defence of the region is an important agenda for the preservation of natural wealth and its sustainable use.

One of the programs the Navy has for this strategy is the Blue Amazon Management System (SisGAAz), which constitutes equipment and systems to collect information in this oceanic belt and seeks to share it with federal agencies.

Why is the Brazilian ocean area called the Blue Amazon?

It is also from the relationship with the Navy that the name for the territory arises. The Secretary of the Interministerial Commission on Sea Resources, Vice-Admiral Marcos Silva Rodrigues, points out that the name is given in order to expand the concept of “Green Amazon”, because the Brazilian maritime territory has equivalent dimensions and riches to the Amazon Rainforest.

Despite being called the Blue Amazon, the territory extends along the entire Brazilian coastline, including both the areas located off the continental portion of the country and those located around islands such as the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago and the Bay of All Saints.

Blue Amazon and its potential

The Blue Amazon, a region over which Brazil exercises sovereignty, has enormous potential resources. Many of them are explorable ecological, mineral and energy resources and others are milestones for preservation.

The ocean floor, for example, helps researchers in the carbon footprint, which is the calculation made of the total emission of greenhouse gases associated with human action. A large part of the carbon concentration is found in the oceans.

Therefore, the Blue Amazon is a relevant region for sustainable economic development, socially and strategically. In addition, it has a unique importance for climate stability in the country and for the quality of the environment of the Brazilian maritime coast.

In the generation of jobs, for example, the Blue Amazon contributes to navigation, fishing, tourism, and renewable energy generation, among other endless trades.

The Brazilian Blue Amazon

One might even consider it strange that the Blue Amazon is not more popularly known, given its immensity and relevance. Some expressive numbers can illustrate how much this territory impacts the country.

What is the importance of the Blue Amazon for the Brazilian territory?

The importance of the Blue Amazon starts with the air we breathe. A large part of the oxygen balance comes from the oceans. Furthermore, sustainable growth is only possible with greater use of clean energies, such as wind and water.

To preserve and conserve this Brazilian natural heritage one must think about the future and the survival of the next generations. Even so, sustainability is not about “not using”, but about knowing how to use.

The trend for the coming years is that large companies will invest heavily in intelligence that will enable them to migrate to new energy matrices.

Port companies like Tecon Salvador, a business unit of Wilson Sons, seek to operate in this ecosystem, reaffirming their commitment to the ESG pillars. The use of high technology for better disposal of waste and renewable energy systems intend to reduce environmental impacts.

It is worth pointing out that the information presented here is based on what has already been evidenced by researchers from the most diverse areas of study in the territory, but just like the ocean, there is a deep and unknown source of riches and possibilities to be used for the benefit of Brazilian society.

Did you like to know more about the Blue Amazon? Click here and learn more about the navigation on the Amazon River.