In an interview with CNN, Brazilian ecologist João Campos-Silva explains his mission to save the arapaima, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world.
Capable of growing to three meters long and weighing up to 200 kilograms, their properties have even attracted the attention of the US Air Force due to their scales which researchers have compared to a bullet-proof vest.
For generations, arapaima have been a major source of food for local communities and are also prized among diners in some of Brazil’s biggest cities. However, as populations have grown and modernised, the species has fallen victim to overfishing.
Now arapaima fishing is illegal in Brazil, unless it is done sustainably as part of community-based conservation programmes. Speaking as part of CNN’s Call to Earth initiative, Campos-Silva says the arapaima is still headed for extinction – unless the people of the Amazon rally to rescue it.
By working in a close partnership with local associations and fishing leaders, Campos-Silva tells CNN he is determined to save not only the arapaima but, along with it, the livelihoods, food supply and culture of rural communities in Amazonia who depend on the region’s rivers for their survival.
CNN hears Campos-Silva has been working on this project for more than a decade and was named a Laureate of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise in 2019 as a result of his grassroots programs to sustainably cultivate and ultimately revive the species.
In the last ten years, the arapaima population has more than quadrupled because of community action to stop illegal fishers. He estimates there are now roughly 330,000 arapaima living in 1,358 lakes in 35 managed areas, with over 400 communities involved in managing them.
Campos-Silva hopes the positive feedback loop created by the program will encourage more communities to get involved and ultimately help preserve more of the Amazon’s wildlife:
"For a long time, people were excluded from the conservation perspective. But actually, they play a very important role to sustain and to maintain the forests. We are talking about a paradigm shift; conservation should mean a better life for locals."