{"id":29755,"date":"2016-06-23T09:53:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T12:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=29755"},"modified":"2016-07-13T10:17:49","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T13:17:49","slug":"caminhos-do-lagarto-community-ecotourism-project-links-rocinha-with-the-tijuca-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=29755","title":{"rendered":"Caminhos do Lagarto Community Ecotourism Project Links Rocinha with the Tijuca Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Caminhos do Lagarto<\/a> (The Lizard Path) is an ecotourism project developed by the Vila Laboriaux<\/a>\u00a0community\u00a0that works to encourage\u00a0environmental dialogues within the community while benefiting the local economy. Located at the top of Rocinha<\/a>, Vila Laboriaux is situated in close proximity to the Tijuca National Forest<\/a> with panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s South Zone<\/a> beaches, the Two Brothers\u00a0mountains, and the expansive Rocinha favela. With easy access to trails through the forest, the community of Vila Laboriaux has mobilized to optimize this natural resource as a means of increasing environmental education<\/a> initiatives, strengthening connections between residents and the forest, and contributing to income generation.<\/p>\n

For the past few months, Caminhos do Lagarto has been leading Sunday morning hikes that pass through the residential community into the Tijuca Forest. These ecotours are led by residents and seek to incorporate the history of the community into an outdoor adventure experience. Though the hikes are still in an experimental phase while the routes are finalized, the intention is to have all of the hikes pass through important points in the community such as their\u00a0edible garden<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the waterspout that serves as a community water source. The hikes link the neighborhood to points in the Tijuca Forest, like Vista Chinesa, Morro do Cochrane (Gramadinho), and Parque da Cidade<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0are a means of physically connecting the residential environment with the community\u2019s densely forested backyard.<\/p>\n

Caminhos do Lagarto\u2019s work aims to reinforce the importance of keeping trails clean and\u00a0maintaining\u00a0the environmental health of the forest. The intention of the project is to \u201ccare for and value the trails instead of just walking the trails,\u201d says resident organizer Diogo Barbosa.<\/p>\n

\"Vila<\/a><\/p>\n

The Caminhos do Lagarto project was initiated through various\u00a0participatory processes<\/a>\u00a0and dialogues aimed at surveying the needs and priorities of the community. These community discussions were facilitated in collaboration with groups such as Favela Verde<\/a>, Movimento Preserva Laboriaux<\/a>, the Tijuca National Park, and the Laboriaux Neighborhood\u00a0Association. From surveying and brainstorming within the community, they determined that ecotourism was a top project of interest for community members. A working group of residents was formed and has since been developing sustainable ecotourism for the benefit of fostering closer ties between the community and the forest, while creating a unique tourism experience for visitors to Vila Laboriaux.<\/p>\n

The current working group consists of 11\u00a0residents and four partners including\u00a0Favela Verde, an organization that has supported\u00a0various environmental projects in the community. The group holds resident meetings twice a week to plan upcoming community projects and set goals for the continued development of Caminhos do Lagarto. In addition to organizing hikes, Caminhos do Lagarto has worked on other environmental initiatives\u00a0including\u00a0transforming vacant space into a community garden and organizing lessons in the garden about composting for students at the local school. Having the youth of the community learn about their local environment is important for sustaining community values that emphasize a cooperative partnership with the forest.<\/p>\n

Participants on Caminhos do Lagarto\u2019s hikes are encouraged to make a donation during\u00a0the experience. However, to maintain and expand the valuable work of the project Caminhos do Lagarto launched a crowdfunding campaign<\/a> in June to raise funds to support future initiatives. Their crowdfunding page states that with current fundraising they will be able to \u201cset up\u00a0a real business, and with the experience gained through the work done to date, put energy and devote the necessary time to make this project a sustainable social enterprise and a reference in the community ecotourism industry in Rio de Janeiro.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caminhos do Lagarto has raised half of their fundraising goal of R$15,684 in half of their campaign time. Their goal is to raise the remaining funds before the campaign ends on July 29.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a><\/p>\n

As stated on their crowdfunding page, Caminhos do Lagarto \u201caims to generate social and environmental changes that improve the community’s quality of life through local income generation, environmental education and collective empowerment.\u201d Integrating values of caring for the natural environment with fun hikes that include expansive views of the city, Caminhos do Lagarto has a platform that is mutually beneficial for the health of the local environment and brings returns to the community, while offering a more personal tourism experience for visitors.<\/p>\n

As the city prepares for an influx of international tourists in the months before the Olympics, community-based ecotourism provides alternative\u00a0opportunities for tourists to experience Rio de Janeiro through community narratives rooted in social and environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n

To learn more information about Caminhos do Lagarto and to donate to their fundraising campaign visit their site<\/a>. And don’t miss the group’s video about the project below:<\/p>\n