- A newly published study has found a 28% decline in bird species richness in Amazonian areas with high densities of açaí palms.
- Farmers are clearing away native trees and understory vegetation to plant more açaí palms as demand soars, in the process destroying vital habitats for both fruit- and insect-eating birds.
- While açaí is marketed as a sustainable “superfood,” exports from Brazil’s Pará state have surged by 885% in a decade, raising concerns about predatory monoculture.
“Ah-sigh-ee.” Perhaps you don’t yet know the correct pronunciation of this Amazonian fruit, but chances are high that you’ve already seen its name – açaí – on some menu, especially in cafes and small shops specializing in healthy eating, sold mainly as the primary ingredient in bowls, smoothies, ice creams or juices.
In Brazil, about 95% of the production of this small, round and very dark-purple fruit is concentrated in the Amazonian state of Pará. It’s a staple of the local diet, where it’s consumed, blended, with fish, cassava flour and other Amazonian ingredients. But because of its nutritional benefits, being rich in antioxidants and fibers, and having high energy value, açaí’s fame as a “superfood” quickly reached other Brazilian regions and, eventually, other countries.
But the increase in fruit production to meet both national and international demand is reducing bird diversity in the floodplain forests of the Amazon. According to a study recently published in the journal Biological Conservation, areas with a higher density of açaí palm trees show a 28% decline in the number of bird species.
“Our goal was to understand the consequences of the expansion of açaí cultivation and its various forms of management on birds, with a primary focus on frugivores, those that feed on fruits,” study co-author Raphael de Vasconcelos Nunes, a biologist at the Federal University of Pará, told Mongabay.
According to Nunes, floodplain forests are already among the most impacted forest environments in the Amazon. They’re located on riverbanks and undergo constant flooding, receiving nutrients and sediments that render them very fertile. However, to increase açaí production, farmers often cut down other native vegetation in these areas.
“We start to have a snowball effect. There is a decline in animals, important seed dispersers and pollinators, that help in the maintenance and renewal of this forest. On the other hand, if there is no vegetation cover, the soil becomes drier,” Nunes said. “These are effects that may seem small initially, like the reduction in the number of birds, but they add up and will cause a big problem further down the road.”
Human intervention
The researchers monitored bird presence in 36 forest areas where açaí is cultivated at both small and large scales, in the municipalities of Belém, Barcarena, Abaetetuba and Igarapé-Miri — “the açaí capital of the world.” In the morning and at the end of the day, when birds are most active, scientists conducted a 45-minute acoustic survey of the species along fixed points at each site. In all, they collected 127 hours of field recordings, capturing sounds of nearly 3,580 individual birds.
The results point not only to a decline in frugivorous birds but also insectivorous ones, those that feed on insects in the forest’s leaf litter and understory vegetation. Nunes said that, to make harvesting açaí easier and transport the crop to the riverbank, producers often clear the understory forest, which lies below the canopy.
“These ecosystems are on a path of imbalance. Our statistics also demonstrated this reduction in insectivorous birds, closely associated with forest cover in the lower strata of the forest, where there are shrubs and small herbs,” Nunes said.
The study further indicated that few species benefit from intensified açaí management. This is the case, for example, for the great kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), a flycatcher very frequently observed and notably known for adapting to areas modified by humans.
On the other hand, the study indicated a decline in specialist birds, those that feed on a specific plant, such as the long-tailed hermit (Phaethornis superciliosus).
In some areas, larger birds that consume large fruits, such as the purple-throated fruitcrow (Querula purpurata) or the razor-billed curassow (Pauxi tuberosa), no longer exist.
“What exists is a biotic homogenization, which in ecology means an impoverishment of bird assemblages, since the plants that remain alongside the açaí are very simple and cannot maintain the biodiversity we find in preserved areas,” said study lead author Madson Freitas, a biologist at the Emílio Goeldi Museum in Belém.
The researchers say the expansion of açaí groves goes far beyond just the decline of food for many species. Their environment is being modified, and they no longer find places to rest, sleep or reproduce, as with the white-throated toucan (Ramphastos tucanus), which builds its nests in the hollows of tall trees and can no longer find them for nesting.
“Human beings did not give these species time to adapt,” Nunes said. “They have existed for millennia, but humans arrived and in little more than 100 years managed to change the networks of ecological interactions that an animal and a plant have established throughout all this time.”
Growing demand
Brazilian açaí yields soared 14-fold since 1987, reaching 1.9 million metric tons in 2024, according to a recent study. Pará state is both the largest domestic consumer and main exporter of the fruit.
And although exports still represent a small slice of total Brazilian production, international sales of açaí derivatives from Pará, especially pulp and juice, grew by nearly 885% from 2016, reaching $177.2 million in 2025, according to a survey from the Pará industry federation.
The main export destination is the United States, but sales are also growing to Australia, Japan and the Netherlands, which acts as an important gateway into Europe.
To meet this demand and increase income, producers in small areas are planting more açaí palm trees. Although state legislation regulates the maximum number of clumps (sets of plants) per hectare on riverside plots, in practice the law is often ignored.
For more than a decade, Freitas, who was born and lives in Pará, has studied the impacts of the intensification in açaí cultivation. In 2021, he published a study that warned about the destruction of floodplain forests, associating cultivation with a reduction in the number of plant species and functions in this Amazonian ecosystem.
“In these areas of flooded forests, in the estuarine ecosystem, where açaí is cultivated in a quantity greater than recommended, we have more than 200 or 300 [plant] species that are lost and replaced by açaí palm trees,” he said.
The solution, according to Freitas, would be to discourage açaí monocultures and instead encourage riverside populations to grow other products, such as cacao and andiroba, a source of medicinal oil, which could generate income during the açaí off-season and promote biodiversity in these areas.
Reputational risk
In recent years, Amazon products have emerged as a solution to curbing deforestation. The rainforest can provide income through its rich biodiversity, the rationale for this “bioeconomy” approach goes, and state and federal bodies in Brazil have provided funding and training for local and Indigenous communities to develop crops and commercial skills.
As the bioeconomy has grown to meet demand from consumers worldwide seeking sustainable and healthy food, it has also faced hurdles, such as a changing climate and capitalist traps, such as industrialized açaí crops.
“The study presents clear evidence that distancing from traditional açaí cultivation practices reduces biodiversity locally and on larger spatial scales,” said Danielle Leal Ramos, nature-based solutions project manager at the University of Exeter in the U.K., who has a Ph.D. in ecology and biodiversity. “These results imply economic risks in the short and medium term: the loss of opportunities in the emerging green market, reputational risk to the açaí market, and a reduction in the resilience of intensive production systems,” added Ramos, who wasn’t involved in the study.
A report from October 2025 by the project Amazônia 2030 raised concern about how predatory açaí crops can transform a symbol of sustainability into a synonym for degradation.
“Cutting native forests to open up space for the establishment of açaí farms is quite damaging for the environment, not too different from cutting forests to establish cattle farms or soy farming,” said Salo Coslovsky, associate professor of urban planning and public service at New York University in the U.S. and one of the report authors.
“The urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises has never had so much attention from political and economic actors,” Ramos said. “The Amazon has a unique opportunity to take advantage of this demand by developing production alternatives that actually benefit the climate, biodiversity, and society.”
Beyond a lack of government oversight to ensure that small producers follow rules, experts agree that more environmental awareness efforts and support for these communities are necessary.
“We need to offer technical and financial support, and a plausible path for producers to be able to comply with environmental requirements without creating exceptions that fuel unfair competition,” Coslovsky said. “It is a mix of firmness with care, where both types of instruments, control and promotion, are well adapted to the specificities of each case.”
Banner image: Birds like the white-throated toucan (Ramphastos tucanus), which builds its nests in the hollows of tall trees, can no longer find them for nesting. Image by Fernando Flores via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Correction (7-7-2026): A previous version of this story stated that international sales of açaí derivatives from Pará grew by nearly 885% in 2025. Actually, sales grew by 885% from 2016 to 2025. The post is now corrected.
Heat, fires and agribusiness squeeze traditional Amazon açaí harvesters
Citation:
Freitas, M. A. B., Nunes, R. V., Lopes, M. A., Soares, C. C. M., Silva, T. S. F., Vieira, I. C. G., Tabarelli, M., & Lees, A. C. (2026). Açaí management intensification impoverishes Amazonian avian assemblages in estuarine forests. Biological Conservation, 111710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2026.111710
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Cite this article
Suzana Camargo (2026). Growing appetite for açaí is damaging bird diversity in the Amazon. Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321214Credits
