Date Taken
Summer 6-13-2024
Category
Anthropogenic Impacts/Conservation
Preview
Description
This photo, taken in one of the most impoverished areas of Iquitos, in the Amazonian region of Peru. This reveals a stark and often unseen reality of the Amazon River. Once a lifeline for Indigenous communities, the river has long been a place where organic waste once entirely biodegradable would naturally return to the ecosystem. However, the arrival of plastics and other non-degradable materials has disrupted this balance. In the image, people walk across a river now choked with plastic waste, seemingly unaware of the environmental impact. It speaks to a cultural practice rooted in centuries of harmony with nature — a practice now complicated by plastics. This moment captures not just pollution, but the collision of tradition and modernity, urging us to reflect on how human actions, even those born from custom, can transform ecosystems in unexpected and devastating ways.