Back to the future: quilombos and their potential to protect Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

Traveling to Barra do Turvo is like going back in time. Located between the two huge southern Brazilian metropolises of São Paulo and Curitiba, the road that leads to Barra do Turvo crosses the Ribeira River valley, and winds its way through the Atlantic Rainforest. According to UNESCO, this forest is one of the world’s five most important biodiversity hotspots. The Atlantic Forest once stretched over 130 million hectares along Brazil’s southeastern coast. Today, less than 11.2 million hectares remain, or 8.5% of the original forest (considering only fragments bigger than 100 hectares).

21% of the remaining preserved area (2.1 millions hectares) sits here, where the road to Barra do Turvo crosses the Ribeira River valley. The area is conserved in a mosaic of parks and protected areas. The latter tracts of forest are home to quilombolas and native Brazilians in a rich blend of human and nature diversity. These factors led to the 1999 designation of the entire area as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Turvo River, a rainforest landscape in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Photo by Waverli Matarazzo-Neuberger.

From the past to the present, traditional knowledge and modern technologies have shaped the livelihoods of Quilombo communities

Quilombos are rural communities in Brazil formed by descendants of slaves that have strong parenthood networks and relationships with their natural surroundings. In 1988, the Brazilian Constitution recognized their right to their historic lands. Known to be traditional communities, quilombos depend on their land for natural capital, means of survival, and for modelling their society and life reproduction. Their territory inspires a feeling of belonging, constitutes their identity, and is the foundation of their collective history.

The Ribeira River Valley has 21 quilombo communities, the highest concentration in state of São Paulo. The quilombos trace their origins to the 18^th century from slaves that were brought over by settlers looking for gold in the rivers. When word of large gold reserves in Minas Gerais came in the 19^th century, the gold settlements were abandoned. Some of the slaves stayed behind, effectively founding what we know today to be quilombo communities. The opportunistic attitudes that existed in their New World beginnings set the tone for their management of land, characterized by a combination of traditional knowledge and the exploitation of natural resources.

Quilombos are adapting to their circumstances by using traditional knowledge and new techniques to protect the forest they call home

Most of these communities are located in the proximity of natural parks and their land forms a continuum with protected and conserved managed areas. Despite the natural and social richness of Ribeira Valley, it still has the lowest Human Development Index in southeastern Brazil. The socio-environment conflicts that persist are due to a development model that considers this area a source of cheap energy and minerals, as well exploits the land for monoculture and extensive cattle ranching. Although there is unanimous consensus on the need to protect the natural areas of the Ribeira Valley, the actual and future role that the traditional communities have in achieving this goal still lacks recognition.

Quilombo communities lived on traditional techniques for cultivating corn, bananas, rice and beans and raising domestic animals. A common practice, known as coivara, involves burning the cultivated area and cleaning forested area to establish new plantations. This ultimately degrades the soil and led some to attempt applications of fertilizers and pesticides to bolster production. However, the land in the region is too hilly, and these applications simply washed downhill into the waterways.

Turning the tide: Quilombos are working with researchers to produce in a way that is more sustainable and reinforces their cultural heritage

In 1996 some families and technicians began the Cooperfloresta, a cooperative initiative to bring agro-forest technology to their plantations. Today this cooperative congregates 112 families from Barra do Turvo and Adrianópolis and has been changing their means production, the commercialization of their products, and sources of income through alternatives like agro-tourism. The result is the harvesting of a great diversity of vegetables and fruit trees that enhance food security and guarantee a better income. They also process their products into a variety of flours, fruit jams, and sweets that are sold in fairs and an Internet catalog.

The Cooperfloresta referees 90% of the total area of their associates, a region that represents a total of 1,347 hectares. A portion of this land, 16% of the area, is set aside for food production, where each property averages about 25 hectares. The other areas are devoted to restoration and livestock: 58% of the forest tracts are in the beginning or middle regenerative stages; 13% of the forest are remaining stands; and 13% of the land is for reserved for the rearing of domestic animals. This new way of cultivating the land, blended with their traditional knowledge, enhanced their relationship with nature, nurturing their love for the land and deepening their understanding of the role of each organism in keeping the Earth alive.

Pedro is a local leader known for his intimate knowledge of the forest’s ecology and wisdom in managing its resources. The author visited him on her recent trip to the quilombo to learn about new approaches for land management in the region. Photo by Waverli Matarazzo-Neuberger.

In a recent visit, I had the privilege of talking to them about their connection to nature. A deep reservoir of ecological knowledge is translated into expressions that are full of meaning. Their appreciation of nature also extends to human values like reciprocity and solidarity, practices that are integrated into their daily lives, culture, and ethics and are dictated by traditional values. Our department, the Sustainability Center of the Universidade Metodista de São Paulo (Methodist University of São Paulo) is running a project, titled Brown Sugar Sustainable Organic Production, to establish a small brown sugar plant that will allow 5 quilombo communities, representing 345 families, to use existing artisanal practices to process sugar cane into a product for commercial sale. This can also create alternatives to keep their young members in the community, who are pulled by the allure of cities. These communities have big challenges ahead related to the property of their land (menaced by a new law regulation in discussion in Brazilian Federal Congress, PEC 215); the evolution of agro-forest system plantations; and the recognition of their role in preserving this continuum of forested areas against the dominant exploitation model. My experience with the quilombos has made it clear: the path they choose could demonstrate a new model to conserve the forest and the best human values we have, and ultimately pave a way back to a future of hope for our planet.

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Get a closer look at the quilombos! Check out this Google+ story prepared by the author: A Thursday afternoon in Barro do Turvo.