It has been over a month since our trip through the Brazilian northeast has ended. Slowly, memories, lessons learned and new friendships settle into our hearts. Little by little we are able to decode what this trip really represented in our lives.

Every trip is in fact a trip inside our soul. It is to challenge us to change perspective, to delight us by the beauty of distant places and to allow for casual and unlikely encounters that change our lives forever.

On our trip we have seen that inequalities between humans beings and destruction of our common home are everywhere. We also realized that nature is slowly turning into a luxury item. However, we were surprised by the solidarity of some people who dedicate their lives to the world and others, and we are deeply thankful for their willingness to share with us their knowledge and experiences.

In short, in search of ourselves we have found a way. We found that the path is action, born out of love and solidarity, and guided by the pursuit of harmony and by faith in a better world.

We understood that it is not possible to establish a more harmonious system between man and nature without at the same time reassessing the relationship of man with man and of each one of us with ourselves.

Seeking our own harmony, we understood that we must relearn to admire the simple beauty of the world. And there are so many beautiful things! The sunset, singing birds, the sea. Life that sprouts like a miracle in every corner and continues to live in an infinite chain of inter-relationships depending on each other. We are part of this chain and united form a Whole. As the intelligent part of this chain we are responsible for looking after it, but how to do it?

Our encounters with the examples we have described during the trip gave us several clues. One is that we need not change the whole world. It is enough to contribute with small concrete actions. Brígida accepted the challenge of producing organic coffee and her role to care for the waters on her farm. Roy had the courage to fight for his inspiration to protect the Chapada Diamantina. David has invested part of his life to ensure that other people could enjoy the beauty he found when he first arrived in Pipa.

We also learnt that the effect of each individual action, when added to others, is multiplied exponentially. None of the people or institutions with whom we spoke achieved results alone. Natureza Bela found its way when it cooperated with partners, the Gostosenses see in practice that by helping each other they build a better future. Almost all initiatives only survived because they relied on contributions from supporters, either public or private.

What then can be our concrete action, and what is the role of Tambaba in all this? A clear conclusion we reached is that this action is not tourism. At least for now, we do not want to build a pousada. Maybe in the future, when we are older and with less energy.

At this point we want to help, through study and work, to build a system that values our intact forests and stimulates the recovery of many others, while at the same time serves as a livelihood for the communities living around or in them.

We saw in practice that there are already opportunities to do so. It is possible to produce seedlings for reforestation projects using local labor, or certify projects to capture and sell carbon. Companies invest in environmental projects as part of their social responsibility policy, etc.. There are certainly other ways to be explored. We will study to better understand the system and hope to contribute for its improvement.

Our small piece of land in Tambaba serves as both inspiration and laboratory for our ideas. The forest that covers it can serve as raw material for concretizing ideas that it has inspired in us. Tambaba filled our bodies with energy, our minds with ideas and our hearts with hope.

Finally, we ask you to help us not forget what we have learnt during these wonderful four months and conclude with an invitation: travel also within yourself, delight yourselves (again) in the beauty of life, fill your heart with solidarity and become the change you want to see in the world!

After Tambaba we decided to narrow down the kind of examples that we wanted to see. We focused on groups and people that work to protect what is left of the Atlantic Forest, while also contributing to generate income for the families that live in the surrounding areas that are to be protected and restored.

We wrote to several organizations in the Northeast and that was how we got in touch with Ana Cristina from Pau-Brasil Foundation at Glória do Goitá, David from Santuário Ecológico in Pipa; and finally the Environmental Group “Natureza Bela”.

From the very first email, Natureza Bela received us with open arms and were very willing to share their story and challenges with us.

When we arrived at Trancoso, we realized that Itabela, the city where Natureza Bela is located, was not as close as we imagined. We started to question whether it would really be worth going there:  “Why not just spend a last romantic day on the beach in the South of Bahia?”

Simply because we still had a lot to learn, we decided that yes, we were going to get up at 5:00 am and spend several hours on a bus on our last day of the trip. It was really worth it! The work presented to us by Deivison Viana, Geisa Bonfim Berte, Alexssandro Gonçalves dos Santos and Sidvaldo de Oliveira filled us with hope and optimism.

The Environmental Group “Natureza Bela” has found ways to overcome their challenges and since its creation in 2001 has been implementing more and more projects, contributing to the protection of the environment and generating income for local communities in the Southernmost part of Bahia. Its main strategy is perseverance, cooperation with other organizations and a combination of young people working alongside others with more experience.

The organization is located in Itabela, a city with a population of around 25 thousand people that was founded around 1960 to harbor the major lumbermills that installed themselves in that region. These companies came in response to incentives for deforestation and urban development of the region by the Federal Government at the time. The Atlantic Forest remained almost intact until 1940 but intense wood exploration for more than 20 years reduced it to around 7% of the initial territory.

Attempting to preserve what was left and restore what was destroyed, in 2001, the biologist José Francisco Azevedo Jr., Gilson dos Santos Gali, Sidvaldo de Oliveira and others got together and decided to form the Environmental Group “Natureza Bela”. Ever since it was founded, Natureza Bela has contributed to effectively preserve and restore natural resources, in addition to promoting environmental awareness, empowering citizens and generating income in the Monte Pascoal – Pau-Brasil Ecological Corridor.

It wasn’t easy. Their first project was not an immediate success. Natureza Bela proposed that a City Park be created in order to preserve around 600 hectares of Atlantic Forest in medium and advanced stages of recovery. Local politics kept the project from being implemented as initially planned, but it resulted in the creation of the first native tree nursery managed by the group, as well as the creation of two Private Natural Protection Reserves (RPPN) and environmental involvement of the region’s population.

The know-how acquired with the production of seedlings in this period and the ability to network with owners of rural properties and the local population allowed Natureza Bela to co-manage a project to recover the Atlantic Forest and protect the waters of the Caraíva River Basin, along with Instituto Cidade and the Association of Natives from Caraíva (ANAC). In addition to these lead organzations, the project also relied on help form several other institutions, among which were Instituto Bio-Atlântica, Conservation International Brazil (CI-Brasil) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

This project not only created the basis for the recovery process of the Atlantic Forest in the ecologic corridor of Monte Pascoal – Pau-Brasil, but also had two other vital results: the creation of Cooplantar – a cooperative of reforestation workers of the Atlantic Forest in Southernmost Bahia – and the fomalization of a partnership of environmental organizations to jointly implement projects.

Cooplantar is a cooperative that specializes in the restoration of the Atlantic Forest, offering an important alternative for income generation for poor families in the region. Natureza Bela and its partners train the over 20 members of the coop, which live in the villages of Caraíva, Nova Caraíva and Itabela. The coop members have had courses on seed collection, planting techniques, managing cooperatives and others. This leads to an improvement in the lives of the coop members, while providing Natureza Bela and its partners with professional reforestation services and better results in their projects in the region.

Natureza Bela and their partners also try to assure a steady demand for Cooplantar’s services, whether by hiring it for its own projects or referring them to other institutions that need or wish to reforest.

Cooplantar is, for us, a clear example of how poverty and environmental destruction can be fought at the same time. Geisa told us that the current president of the coop used to work in wood extraction and now plants for a living; some other coop members stopped hunting animals and now search for seeds, selling them to Natureza Bela’s nurseries; and many others have found an economic activity in the cooperative that can be carried out in the low tourism season, generating additional income for them and their families.

At the same time, the implementation of the Caraíva project proved that cooperation between the environmental organizations of the region leads to a much better result than individual work and competing for the same resources. As a consequence, Natureza Bela and seven other organizations: ANAC, Cooplantar, Associação Comunitária Beneficente de Nova Caraíva (ASCBENC), TNC, CI-Brazil, Instituto Bioatlântica and Instituto Cidade formed a partnership to jointly seek funding and implement projects in the region of the Monte Pascoal – Pau-Brasil ecologic corridor.

Each organization has its role in this joint-venture defined according to its comparative advantage. Natureza Bela distinguishes itself by its ability to network with the local community and owners of rural properties and it capacity to produce seedlings. By joining the partnership, Natureza Bela overcame some challenges such as access to funding and distribution of the produced seedlings.

After the joint-venture was created, not only was there an increase in the funds available for implementing projects, but these projects also became more sophisticated. This joint-venture was the first carbon sequestration project via reforestation in Latin America certified by the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA).

The project seeks to sequester 280,000 tons of CO2 over 30 years in an area of 800 hectares through the recuperation of native forests. It measures success through climate and biodiversity criteria, but also by bringing social and economic benefits to the communities. Corporations such as Natura Cosméticos and Kraft Foods Inc. have already bought part of the rights to use the CO2 to be recovered in 30 years, making the project economically viable.

Knowledge exchange with their partners, along with practical experience has taught them how to increase demand for the seedlings produced in Natureza Bela’s nursery. According to Sidvaldo, there is a demand outside of the projects carried out by the partnership, which comes from three main sources: a) companies / organizations with environmental liabilities due to obligations under the environmental laws; b) owners of rural properties interested keeping their legal reserves in good standing in order to obtain agricultural loans granted by state, national and international banks; and c) companies interested in the emerging carbon market.

In order to meet the increase in the demand for native seedlings, Natureza Bela currently manages 3 nurseries, each one with the productive capacity of 200,000 seedlings per year, from 72 types of native Atlantic Forest trees. It is expected for production to reach 3 million seedlings from 80 types of native species per year by 2012.

Natureza Bela is also in charge of several social, cultural, and educational activities that promote environmental awareness and alternatives for income generation. These activities include drama, crafts and dance classes, as well as managing one of Bahia’s Cultural Spots. One of their plays “Quando a Natureza é Bela” (When nature is beautiful, a play of words with the organization’s name) was so successful that it lead to the production of a comic book dealing with the same theme. These fun comic books are available for free on Natureza Bela’s website.

To us, Natureza Bela is an example of success. Over its nine years, it has gone from four volunteers to 10 employees and 22 volunteers and increased significantly its seedling production and the social and environmental impact of its projects.

The key to its success is cooperation. Whether cooperation with other partners, of young volunteers with more experienced people in the organization, or promoting cooperation between mankind and nature. To us, there is no doubt: when it comes to promoting collective well-being, 1 + 1 always equals more than 2!

After Gloria do Goitá, we spent a week readjusting to modern life. We spent 4 days in Recife, working a lot and doing some sightseeing. We stayed with Dani and Victor, a very special 8-year-old, who taught us how to be children again! We played a lot: wrestling, running and exchanging football stickers!

Then, we went down to Salvador and arrived in Bahia. Ah, Bahia! Magical land of dreams, a paradise to all Mineiros… We visited old friends, Adhemar and his family, and let filled ourselves with that Bahian energy.

Salvador is, on one hand, a city like any other, with many urban problems such as pollution, sanitation, unemployment and poverty. Salvador also seemed not well cared for, it seemed dirtier and more neglected than the last times we had been there. However, the religious mich-mash, the music, its African heritage and the amazing coastal scenery make Salvador a very special place. It’s always worth a visit!

After Salvador, we headed to the South of Bahia. We chose Trancoso as our home base. Neither Stephan nor I knew this small town and it is geographically located in the middle of the places that we wanted to see in the region.

For those of you, who do not know the south of Bahia (or any part of the coast of Bahia, for that matter), this region is the representation of paradise in the imagination of most Brazilians from the South and Southeast regions. The image is of a region filled with natural beauty, many parties in the summer, a place of sensuality and relaxation. This image is confirmed specially in the summer.

Arriving there in the beginning of winter and at the end of our trip was quite interesting for us. The villages were empty and not so many parties were going on. However, all the villages we visited – Trancoso, Arraial D’Ajuda and Caraíva – maintained, to a higher or lower level, a substantial offer of good dining, nice places to stay and splendid nature.

During our stay in Trancoso, we felt that winter was dawning on us as well. We were starting to miss a “normal” work routine. The time had come for us to put into practice all that we had learned and move on to a new stage of our lives.

But it didn’t end right then and there, we were still missing one last learning experience. One of the reasons that we chose to stay in Trancoso was that it is close to Itabela. Itabela is where the Environmental Group Natureza Bela is located, an NGO that works with environmental conservation and promotes sustainable development in the region.

We spent our last day with them learning a lesson of hope and optimism. The “detour” to Itabela was longer than we had imagined and we almost gave up. We had to spend about 5 hours on the bus in order to talk with them only for a few hours, but meeting them made each kilometer of dirt road worth it. We’ll tell you all that we learned with them in our next post, stay tuned!

In Glória do Goitá we also met Vicente Roque one of the founders of the Instituto Verde (IV), a non-profit organization. Vicente, Carolina Magalhães (the current president of the institute) and Graça, an architect and member of the institute, showed us one of the projects the institute is supporting, an association of women who got together in search for a better future.

The Association of Female Rural Entrepreneurs of Palmeiras, exists for almost one year (it was created on July 28, 2009) and currently works on three fronts: a) production of crafts, b) cultivation of organic produce, and c) decoration with wild roses. With the help of Instituto Verde, the women are building up a bakery for their community.

The first big challenge of the association was to constitute itself as a legal person and to ensure that they would have a place to work. The next step is to turn the house into a functioning office and workspace, and to define the products that will be prioritized and the goals the women want to reach.

We talked to Joselaine, the president of the association, with Dona Anita, the treasurer and with Suzanne, the secretary. They all agreed that in this first year of work the biggest challenge was to organize themselves and the main lesson was that 1+1 is more than two. By working together, they learned from each other, and increased production of their products and the impact the services can bring to the community of Palmeiras.

The Instituto Verde was instrumental in the creation and organization of the association. With the help of its juridical and technical assistance it was possible to register the association in such short time. Moreover, the juridical assistance the institute continues to offer helps the association to use the Law in the favor of those who usually do not have access to justice. This way the members are less vulnerable to fights in local politics.

Currently, the IV continues to support the work of these women and is an important connecting element between the women of Palmeiras and the rest of the world. The community of Palmeiras is very isolated. There is only one public telephone, and very few transport options to get to the nearby urban centers, Glória do Goitá and Vitória do Sant Antão.

To reduce this isolation, the IV enables the association members to take part in courses and brings them information in form of books and reports. For example, the IV made it possible for 3 association members to participate in a 40-day bakery course in Recife, as a basis for the bakery of the association.

The next step is to turn the association economically independent and to also inspire entrepreneurship in the other inhabitant of the community. Our talk with the women and the group from the IV gave us even more certainty that wit a little bit of will and energy one can mobilize the local human capital and improve the well-being for all in any community, even the remotest and poorest ones.

On the final weekend of April we visited the National Pau Brazil Foundation (FUNBRASIL) in Glória do Goitá, Pernambuco. We got to know about the foundation through a friend we met in Tambaba, Marisa. We had shared our dream to work with reforestation with her, and she told us that we had a lot to learn from Ana Cristina, the current President of FUNBRASIL.

She was right. Ana Cristina, a women with a strong personality and a heart full of solidarity, received us in her house and told us about the story of FUNBRASIL and its current challenges. She also gave us the opportunity to get to know the Pau Brasil tree (also known as Brazil wood or Pernambuco), the national tree that inspired the name of our country and turned us into Brazilians.

We did all this in the midst of good food (bacalhau, free-range chicken, pumpkin farofa, etc.) good conversation and good music. We listened to Forró Pé de Serra (music style from the interior of the Northeast) and even got to be part of a real festival of forró accordionists! Wonderful!

But let’s go back to FUNBRASIL. FUNBRASIL is a result of the passion of Ana Cristina’s father, Professor Roldão. Considered by many the Pau-Brasil apostle, he dedicated his life to protecting this tree. In 1970, he started a movement to defend the Pau-Brasil that was hosted 2 years later by the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE). The movement gained strength and in 1978, managed to have the Pau-Brasil recognized as national tree through a federal law. FUNBRASIL is a consequence of this movement.

The foundation, created in 1988, produces seedlings of Pau-Brasil and other native Atlantic Forest tree species (with a capacity of 150.000/200.000 per year), promotes reforestation and environmental education and offers practical knowledge on the Pau-Brasil from geography, history, and ecology. On the campus of FUNBRASIL there is a permanent memorial of the Pau-Brasil, and you can go on ecological hikes between native trees and get to know the historical and cultural Pau-Brasil trail.

While we enjoyed all these activities, Ana Cristina shared some important lessons about reforestation with us that she had learned from her father and in her daily work. The first one is the importance of practical knowledge about the prime material of this work. More than once, she told us that to know how to reforest, “the important thing is the plant.”

With this sentence that seems so obvious, she is criticizing the amount of resources put into discussions about policies, models and the organization of conferences, as opposed to the resources invested in learning about the plants themselves. She calls for the necessity of producing and disseminating knowledge about things like the best techniques to collect seeds, the period of germination for different species, or the best period in the year to plant seedlings, etc., etc.

Learning more about the plants is very advantageous for those wanting to preserve, as it can lead to more efficiency in terms of time and the amount of plants that are able to reach maturity in reforestation projects.  It may also help to find answers to turn preservation economically viable.

Pau-Brasil: Making color/ Fazendo tinta

After several years of work with the Pau-Brasil, for example, FUNBRASIL discovered that a specific type of Pau-Brasil develops his core much faster than others. This species can already be used at 17 years of age (an not with more than 30 as was thought) for the production of violin arches, one of the main reasons for its exploration.

Another lesson we learned from Ana Cristina is the importance of establishing a direct relation with nature, especially for children, to become aware of the necessity to protect. She likes to remind her students that currently “we behave like children taken care of by their parents (the trees), who clean their diapers and give them food, and when they grow up they turn around and kill their parents” and that we have to change that.

Since the death of Prof. Roldão, FUNBRASIL is confronting difficulties to maintain their work alive. Many long-time partners connected the existence of FUNBRASIL to Prof. Roldão and stopped supporting his work after his death. Besides this, many resources invested in FUNBRASIL for the defense of the Pau-Brasil came from the monthly income of the professor and are not available anymore.

The quest for resources is difficult due to the public sector bureaucracy and the lack of human resources to help with bureaucratic issues. Despite all these challenges, we left FUNBRASIL with the certainty that the foundation is home to an enormous capital that has to be valued and used. This foundation has the technical knowledge and capacity to produce thousands of seedlings of Pau-Brasil, Aroeira, Cajá, Ipê, Ingá, Pau-de-Jangada and other 30 types of native Atlantic Forest trees.

The challenges the foundation has to face next, include getting out of the isolation it find itself in currently, and finding partners other than the public sector. These partnerships can promote its integration into the electronic world and into the new market of life that is emerging with stricter environmental legislation and an increased awareness for the necessity to preserve.

The seedlings of native trees are available to companies and individual who want to or need to reforest. If you are interested in buying seedlings or seeds of Pau-Brasil or other rare species of the Atlantic Forest, or if you want to support or get to know or support the foundation, get in touch with Ana Cristina by email (funbrasil [at] yahoo.com.br) or by phone ((081) 9909 2934).

“Nature is anti-capitalist because she invests the maximum, over a long period of time, so that at least one individual can survive. Capitalism, by contrast, requires to invest the least possible, in as little time as possible, to obtain the biggest return possible.”

More information:

• Profile of Pau Brazil on Global Trees
• Saving the Music Tree, article in the Smithsonian
• Article in the LA Times

Currently, there are 4 houses, 2 pousadas and a settlement of rural workers in Tambaba. Part of the reason we chose this place was that we were fascinated by the good energy of this settlement. There, we felt a special atmosphere of community and simplicity that we hope to be a part of in the future.

During our last visit to Tambaba, we went there to introduce ourselves and to get to know some of the families, who are living there, and by whom we were welcomed with open arms. We listened to their stories, were captivated by their solidarity, learned from their determination and felt powerless as we saw how many norms and policies are perpetuating the inequality that still exists in this country.

We are used to read and hear fierce critiques in the national media against social movements promoting agrarian reform, so getting to know these families of Tambaba was very enlightening. We got to understand the human dimension of this fight. We realized that we could have found ourselves on the other side (the side of the settlers) if we had not had luck in the lottery of birth: we were born into families where never anything was lacking.

We decided to share the story with you as we heard it during the interviews we conducted with the residents of the Tambaba settlement. The facts described below are based exclusively on the accounts given during these interviews. We have hope that telling this story we can help the settlers to gather support so that the public policy machinery may act in their favor.

For almost 20 years the rural workers of Tambaba are waiting to receive the collective land title that was accorded to them in all judicial instances. The lack of this title leads to difficulties in accessing public and private support and more importantly, the settlers remain vulnerable in the face of local interests that view them as an obstacle to development.

In 1986, 64 families of rural workers of the region decided that they did not want to work under inhospitable conditions anymore and that they would fight for a piece of land of their own. According to José, the decision to fight for a piece of land followed an “awakening” stimulated by the agents of Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), an organ of the National Bishops Conference of Brazil (CNBB).

The agents of the CPT educated them about their rights and taught them that unproductive lands (land that does not fulfill a social function as described in the Brazilian constitution) could be redistributed as part of the agrarian reform. The CPT guaranteed support from national and international movements, besides helping them to engage in local and state politics, which was necessary for the transfer of the land to their names.

When they arrived at the place in Tambaba where the settlement is still located today, they were welcomed violently, as is the case in many land disputes. The former owners and the heirs of these landlords had the support of local police to remove them from there. According to Luiza, one of the original settlers, they feared for their lives and the lives of their children when policemen and mercenaries came to the settlement.

During these campaigns (there were several of them) the settlers lost everything they had (which was already little) and were obliged to start from zero. Tractors were driven across their planted fields, destroying work of weeks. Their houses, which at the time were huts made of cloth and wood were torn down (some were burnt down more than 5 times). Even the flour mill, essential for processing cassava and corn to ensure that their families had something to eat, was torn down and burnt.

The difficulties of this period were such that of the 64 original families only 18 stayed. When we asked them why they decided to stay the reply was unanimous: “We had nowhere to go, there was no other option!”

In 1992, after 6 years, 5 attempts to chase them away, several protests in front of the redemption palace (the seat of the government of Paraiba) and countless negotiations with the state government, an agreement was reached to expropriate the occupied land and transfer it to the rural workers.

At that point, a long process of expropriation started, which is still not concluded. Today, almost 20 years later, there are no legal options left, neither to appeal the court decision, nor in regards to the value owed as indemnity. The only thing left to resolve the situation of the rural workers of Tambaba is for the state government of Paraiba to disburse the last payment of indemnity owed to the former owners of the land. The demand notice for payment was sent to the state government on June 11, 2003 and still has not been paid. In other words, what is lacking is political will!

Not having a collective land title has a series of negative implications for the settlers. Since they do not have a formal land title, they have only restricted access to some social and economic government programs, to credit, and to technical assistance. Even more, the lack of the land title leaves them vulnerable against those who see them as an obstacle to the development of tourism and the real estate market in the area.

The settlement occupies an area that is considered very valuable: its almost 100 hectares are crossed by one of the main roads of the state, the PB008; and it is located on the coastal cliffs between the Coqueirinho and Tambaba beaches, two of the main attractions of the southern coast of the state.

We disagree with those who think that the settlement of Tambaba represents an obstacle for tourism in the region. Rather, we believe that this community of rural workers offers great human capital that has to be taken advantage of. Tourism has to be developed with and not despite them. They can be the source of fruits and vegetables for local pousadas, as much as offer additional tourist attractions by, for example, setting up local crafts markets or restaurants with home cooked food.

Willingness of the residents is not missing to put these and other ideas into practice. Sólon, the current President of the Rural Workers Association of Tambaba, told us that most of them dream of being their own bosses and see a big opportunity in tourism. Yet, they always run into the problems created by the lack of secure and legally recognized rights: lack of access to credit and political support.

One clear example of this is the settler’s difficulty of solving the problem to get access to water for irrigation. Since they do not have access to credit and can only count on little support by politicians, the settlers do not manage to find funds for the construction of a second well. The community is currently supplied with water through a well with a suction pump that only manages to pump enough water for domestic consumption.

As a result, the farmers of Tambaba can only plant at large scale during the rainy season (between May and November) and they are restricted to planting cultures that depend on little water such as cassava, corn and yam. This means that the big majority of the residents of the Tambaba settlement, besides working on their own fields, needs to earn a living from other activities, as caretakers, kitchen helps, masons or guards to guarantee the livelihood of their families.

After 24 years and the right to their land gained in the courts, the rural workers of Tambaba are still waiting that the judiciary, the state government of Paraiba, and the municipality of Conde fulfill their duty to ensure that the last due payment to the former owners is disbursed so the settlers finally receive their collective land title. The settlers also wish that the state government and the municipality support their participating in the development of tourism in the region, helping them in the construction of the second well, supporting their initiatives and building their capacity as necessary.

The local politicians, merchants and entrepreneurs who see the settlement as an obstacle, have to realize that the settlers are there to stay. Keeping them down will thus only help create a pocket of poverty in the midst of a potential tourist area. This in turn would be counterproductive for the development of the region, as it would deter tourists and investors alike. We do hope that writing up this story may help open a dialogue to search for joint projects. If this is done, we are sure that everybody will win in the end!

When Nanda and Stephan started to describe their “Suficiente” concept to me, I was already pretty impressed. We generally do not meet a lot of people who choose the principles by which they want to live. In addition, seeing that an ideal can be concretized is always surprising. And this is what they chose to do: have a lifestyle that follows their ideals. All still a bit abstract… until I receive an email from nanda: we bought land! And that easy to understand idea “we will build a pousada”, had transformed into a reforestation project in the South of Paraiba. How I admire my adventurous friends! I simply had to go there and check out this undertaking personally!

In April I would have a week off of school and could – why not? – zip to Paraiba. The naturist beach of Tambaba intrigued me. The photos of the cliffs convinced me to travel. So off I went to meet up with my friends!

Let me say up front that I ended up not going to the naturist beach. Rather quickly, I concluded that I am very well adapted to our clothed society. Nonetheless, Nanda and I got quite close to the beach… to turn around and walk a couple of kilometers along the neighboring beach.

The most I had known of the Northeast was Bahia. Let me tell you how beautiful the South of Paraiba is. I was amazed. The sea is of a clear green and calm, the cliffs are really wonderful, of an intense orange – and there are no food stands on the beach! The beaches are deserted and clean, and silence and calm reign. Only in Coqueirinho there are a few food stands. For those who cannot survive without a beer or at least coconut water, there is the Art Bar close to the mangrove of Tabatinga. It is so well integrated into the surroundings that it is hard to notice – and when you enter the place, there are sculptures and paintings creating a really cool atmosphere.

The Art Residence of the new friends of Stephan and Nanda is a chapter by itself: it is one of 4 houses in Tambaba, on a large lot surrounded by illustrated walls, with a planned and enchanted garden. The silence of not having any neighbors – only the green that covers the stretch of sea on the horizon – is precious. And it is in this area that Stephan and Nanda plan to build a residence. We walked along the earth roads until we got to the brink of the cliffs and witnessed a real show. The cliffs frame the sea, covered with silver, and there is an enormous moon in front of us. It seems a virtual reality (without photoshop!) but we feel a salty and fresh breeze hitting our faces.

We stayed in a pousada in Tabatinga, quite close to Tambaba. In the crêperie of the pousada, I had the best crêpes in a long time, accompanied by the funny stories of the owners, by laughter, and the liberty of the kids that live there.

On the weekend, we met very nice guests from Recife and Campina Grande. All, without exception, were very happy and friendly. This called my attention, because I am used to the asphalt of Belo Horizonte and had forgotten that Brazilians have to reputation of being an friendly people.

We also met with members of the Rural Workers Association of Tambaba. The story of these families who are trying to live from family agriculture and are fighting for years for the ownership of the land they live on, marked me. It is a real community, with a bitter trajectory, similar to the stories of many Brazilians. Will there be justice?

One thing that had to happen was an inauguration party of Nanda and Stephan’s land. It was a picnic with new friends – since these 2 are sociable they already – after a short time – have a group of friends! There they were the nice house, the lush native forest, the promise of a future…

I am very grateful to these precious friends for the opportunity to live this experience and to share the construction of this project with them. I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Joseph Campbell, which has accompanied me and was never truer: “If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.”

Leísa Amaral

After Fernando de Noronha we spent a few days in Natal. Dani and Juan Miguel, friends of a good friend from law school, had accepted to host us.  We spent a few wonderful days with them, talking and taking a break from tourism. We lived three “normal” days, working on the computer, cooking at home and enjoying the tranquility of not having to do anything.

The big attraction of our stay n Natal was to meet David Hassett, the guardian of the Ecological Sanctuary of Pipa. We talked with him about the Sanctuary and the challenges that exist to realize the dream of finding equilibrium between man and nature. During our meeting, David asked us to not become defeatist, but always have hope and defend our vision of a better world. He himself is no defeatist, and although today’s situation is not as good as it could be, he certainly did his part.

When he acquired the land of the sanctuary almost 30 years ago, David dreamt to be instrumental in maintaining Pipa a rustic and preserved place. He was not able to contain the region’s development (e.g. the latest urban development plan of the town reserved a big part of the municipality for urban expansion). Still, his commitment to the future visitors of Pipa and the existing life there resulted in today’s visitors being able to appreciate the original fauna and flora.

The Ecological Sanctuary of Pipa conserves 90 hectares of Atlantic Forest and guarantees that the beach of the Bay of Dolphins and a part of the Madeiro beach remain almost wild. Besides conserving, the Sanctuary also offers educational activities on environmental topics for public and private schools and opens its space for scientific research. The area has been used to develop research on a lot of different topics: from horseflies and lizards to the geology and geodynamics of the cliffs. Rcently, one of these projects resulted in the discovery of a bird species that had never been registered before. Today, the main research project present in the Sanctuary is the Tamar Project (on sea turtles), which is run in partnership with the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).

The main source of financial resources is the entrance fee to visit the Sanctuary. Visitors pay 5 Reais and can follow several educational trails on the Atlantic Forest and enjoy amazing views of the Bay of Dolphins and the Madeiro beach, among others. If they are lucky, visitors can also see some local animals. We saw a Jacu family (a turkey-like wild bird) when we walked through the woods and several sea turtles from the Turtle viewpoint.

The resources made through the visitors are just enough to cover the maintenance of the Sanctuary, but there are no resources left for improvements. According to David, the challenges to attract more funds are many. On the one hand, partnerships with the public sector, although beneficial, are mostly of a short timeframe and not systematic. This makes it difficult to reach significant results. On the other hand, the Sanctuary was not able to collect funds through the private sector. Attempts to explore the market for seedlings and seeds of native plants where without success. Currently, the Sanctuary assesses the alternative to convert isolated research projects in systematic research programs as to strengthen institutional partnerships.

David is also concerned with the future of the Sanctuary. Thinking to ensure that it continues to exist for many years, he decided to transfer the ownership rights and its administration over to a foundation that will be created to take care of the Sanctuary. This foundation will be composed of at least 23 friends and environmentalists, of whom several work for important environmental agencies such as ICMBio and IDEMA (state agency of Rio Grande do Norte), while others live in Pipa and have different backgrounds.

Beyond the Sanctuary, we also discussed the development of Pipa over the years that David was there. He noted with sadness that the Chapadão, a cliff above the Praia do Amor. (Beach of Love), was transformed from an area full of irregular and rare rock formations into a flat area. A tractor had been used to level the area to facilitate access for visitors and enable construction. He also told us with sorrow that most of the areas located at the brink of the cliffs with a beautiful view of the coast are today private property and with restricted access.

The story David told us about the development of Pipa and the fact that areas like the Sanctuary are the exception and resorts and gated communities are the rule, confirm what we were discovering during this trip: nature is luxury. To enjoy nature people have to pay a lot, in the case of Pipa, the cost of one of the resorts or pousadas.

It should not be like this. As David reminded us, the stretch of land directly on the sea is public land. As such, the Union should guarantee the access for all and protect the beauty that covers and covered the Brazilian coast for the benefit of all. Unfortunately, government prefers to sell this land for the benefit of a few and to collect property tax!

From David and his experience with the Sanctuary we learned that we cannot change the world alone, but that we should give our best to do our part. David certainly contributed his part. And you?

Everyone turns a bit into a fish when they’re in Fernando de Noronha. Believe it or not, I spent the end of our last day on the beach in this island with my legs between my arms, just floating on the water and drifting off with the waves’ lullaby. That’s right: that sub-aquatic world was so comfortable that it seemed natural for me to rest right there!

Fernando de Noronha is an archipelago made up of 21 islands, 525km from Recife and 350km from Natal. 70% of it is under protection by the Fernando de Noronha National Marine Park. The other 30% is regulated as an Area of Environmental Protection, in accordance with Brazilian laws. UNESCO declared the archipelago a world natural heritage site in 2002 due to its large biodiversity. Fernando de Noronha is also considered one of the best diving spots in the world, with crystal waters that allow for up to 50m of visibility.

The island’s scenery is in fact beautiful, but not that much different from what can be seen in other areas of preservation. However, what makes this place so special is that here it is quite easy to unravel some of the mystery of marine life. In addition to incredible sub-aquatic landscapes with many colorful corals, the animals feel at ease in our company and often approach the divers, curious to find out who are these alien creatures with diving masks. Maybe, because they are under protection, they have grown used to socializing with humans.

We spent a week here, along with my mother and my brother, Daniel. It was a wonderful week during which we saw living and breathing ornamental fish (more than 13 types), two types of rays, baby sharks, marine turtles of different sizes and spinner dolphins! Not to mention the colored corals, white urchins and seaweed that form a marine forest, which allows for the birth and growth of all these life forms.

As our family was with us, we did almost all the outings available. Dona Patrícia, my mother, put on her safari outfit and didn’t hesitate a bit in taking part in all of the adventures: she almost turned into a guppy!

During our tour of the island (“Ilha-tur”), we saw in one single day three beaches that are considered the most beautiful in Brazil, according to the list by the “4 Rodas” Guide: Sancho Beach, “Baía dos Porcos” (Pigs’ Bay) and “Praia do Leão” (Lion’s Beach). We also went to several other parts of the island and were overwhelmed with the beauty of its design and the water’s clarity and visibility.

We also went hiking on the Caeira – Atalaia trail in the National Marine Park. Here we swam in three natural pools, nurseries of ornamental fish that are formed when the tide is low. It’s indescribable!

On our boat ride in the inside sea (the side of the island facing Brazil) we saw many spinner dolphins that played with us and the water and then we went on a sub ride, which is a small board that is pulled by the boat and allows to dive several meters without much effort. A lot of fun!

We went to some lectures presented by the Tamar project and found out many interesting aspects of the island’s geological and social-political history, as well as of the formation of Fernando de Noronha National Marine Park. The island is a volcanic formation and, in the past, was occupied by the Dutch, the French and the Portuguese. It has served as a prison and a military base and in 1988 the National Marine Park was created. Currently, it is an area of preservation.

For us, there is no doubt that Fernando de Noronha deserves the reputation that it holds! During this week, in which we were closer to Africa than to São Paulo, we had unprecedented access to marine life. Places like Fernando de Noronha make it impossible not to fall in love with Earth’s savior faire and its uncountable expressions of life!