The mangroves in Pará are among the largest in Brazil and perform primordial ecological functions for the sustainability of traditional coastal populations (artisanal fishing, crab and mollusk collection, use of mangrove wood, etc.) The research is carried out in Bragança and Quatipurú (NE Pará) and aims to identify causes of natural (erosion) and anthropic impacts (mangrove alteration, overfishing). After consulting the bibliography, field work was done with the collection of mangrove soil samples (by translation, km 12), and interviews with communities. The great impact caused to the mangrove by the opening of the Bragança/Ajuruteua highway is pointed out by several authors (Souza Filho, 2001; Cohen et Lara, in press). We observed that the area is currently regenerating, despite the high salinity of the soil (>50 ppm, França, PIBIC 2003). In contrast to these impacts, there are organized communities, such as the one in Tamatateua, where there is an experience in replanting the mangrove, which is unprecedented in the region. The community also practices the extraction of honey from bees pollinated by Avicennia sp. Used to working together, the inhabitants of Tamatateua are building, within the scope of a PDA (National Fund for the Environment) project and with the support of the MADAM Program (bilateral cooperation Brazil/Germany), a Honey House for future commercialization of the product. The 30 beekeepers of the area (who are also fishermen and collectors) estimate that the sting bees that produce honey protect the mangrove from anthropogenic depredation. As for fishing, they denounced a predatory practice that consists in the use of a net known as "fuzaca" that causes the death of a huge amount of small fish. Finally, another problem identified was the rapid river erosion on the right bank of the Quatipurú River in Boa Vista, with destruction of the road, falling houses, and salinization of wells in the dry season.
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