AMAZON TO BE EXPLORED

Grey River Argus, 13 April 1948, Page 5

AMAZON TO BE EXPLORED

NEW YORK, April 12

Nine United Nations countries are planning a treasure hunt in the world’s last great wilderness, the Amazon jungle of South America. They hope to unlock the secrets and wealth oi this dense and trackless area, of nearly 4,000,000 square , TT -x J The main objective oi the United Nations team studying the “lost world” is to learn how modern man can adapt himself to life in the jungle. r ~ 11 that can be aone_ successfully, the Amazon basin inigiit oe usea to help solve the problem of the world’s over-population, credited by some as a cause of war.

Populated and prosperous tropics couid open vast markets for the world's goods. That could mean more jobs for more people. The jungle, too, might give much more to the human race. From the Amazon Indians, for instance, man first learned about rubber, tapioca and quinine.

UNITED NATIONS CHARTER Under the auspices of United Nations, delegates from Amazon countries and those interested in the river land will convene at Tingua Maria, Peru, on April 19, to adopt the charter of an organisation to do the work.

The charter was drawn up at a conference in New York attended by delegates from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, France, United States and Venezuela. The organisation will work in both the Orinoco and the Amazon valleys, territory which the white man discovered more than 400 years ago but still largely unknown to his descendants. T In its hinterland are savage Indian tribes, two-ton snakes, swarms of death-dealing insects and poisonous plants. • . The scientists will concentrate their study on its climate, weather, plants, foods and living habits of the natives. They will explore the problem of suitable tropic dwellings and plans for towns. They will look for sources of prospective wealth in oil, hardwoods, edible river fish .animais and plants. They will survey the field to find out how travel through the Amazon can be linked by river, land and air in a systematic plan.