{"id":30380,"date":"2016-07-15T10:17:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T13:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=30380"},"modified":"2017-10-10T10:30:48","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T13:30:48","slug":"ecotourism-in-quilombo-do-camorim-promotes-cultural-and-environmental-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=30380","title":{"rendered":"Ecotourism in Quilombo do Camorim Promotes Cultural and Environmental Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Upon visiting the Quilombo do Camorim<\/a>, it is evident that the community’s cultural history cannot be separated from the natural environment. Located in the neighborhood of Jacarepagu\u00e1<\/a>\u00a0in the West Zone<\/a>\u00a0of Rio de Janeiro, near the Olympic Park<\/a>, the Quilombo do Camorim borders the vast Pedra Branca State Park<\/a>. Visitors to the community pass along a main road lined with a series of recently built condominiums before arriving in the center of the community where the streets become tree-lined and densly forested. As a community originally established by runaway slaves, the cultural history of the quilombo<\/a> plays a central role in many of the community’s social and environmental initiatives and projects.<\/p>\n

Community-based ecotourism is among the quilombo’s many initiatives. The program\u00a0Guias da Natureza (Nature Guides)\u00a0includes\u00a0hikes through the Pedra Branca Forest that incorporate significant historical sites and important natural landmarks. These resident-led trails are an opportunity to learn about the cultural history of the quilombo<\/a> in addition to experiencing the rich biodiversity of the natural environment. During\u00a0the hike, guides stop regularly, providing\u00a0information on\u00a0the plants and animals along the trail, as well as the history of\u00a0the early formation of the quilombo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Adilson Almeida, resident and president of the Camorim Cultural Association<\/a> (ACUCA), explains how leading hikes through the forest is one way of remembering and sharing the history of the community. As a guide with Guias da Natureza, Adilson leads tourists and visitors on trails recounting\u00a0the history at\u00a0various points of interest, including a bouldered area that served as a hideout for runaway slaves, remnants of an early house, a waterfall, and the A\u00e7ude do Camorim<\/a>\u00a0dam. Historically, many parts of the Pedra Branca Forest were reforested by former slaves. The practice of caring for the forest continues today, as Adilson affirms that “we the old quilombo residents are the ones who take care of the natural environment here.”<\/p>\n

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

The Guias da Natureza project works to train youth in the quilombo to be tour guides\u00a0with\u00a040\u00a0young residents trained to lead hikes. The group has trained an additional 30\u00a0people from neighboring areas\u00a0such as Taquara, Vargem Grande<\/a>, Pra\u00e7a Seca<\/a>, and Curicica<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Usually two or three trained guides will accompany a group on the trails. On days where there are multiple groups hiking the trail at the same time, Adilson ensures at least half an hour between groups because \u201cit is an issue of soil impact. We work a lot with cultural and environmental conservation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/a>
\nAdilson explains\u00a0the difference between the community’s ecotourism project and some other tour agencies: \u201cWe work in accordance with what nature offers, always respecting that. We have a pleasant and unhurried\u00a0walk that is different from tour agencies. They arrive, gather the tourists, take them into the environment and go straight to the attraction. They have a walk without the history or content. It\u2019s the opposite for us, we have a pleasant walk where we receive\u00a0tourists and they leave here with a basic understanding of the history of the discovery of Brazil, a history of the quilombos, and a rich history of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Tourists leave here with a basic understanding of the history of the discovery of Brazil, a history of the quilombos, and a rich history of the environment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The community also offers overnight stays that allow tourists to experience some of the quilombo’s cultural activities such as capoeira<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0jongo<\/a>, and enjoy a homemade feijoada<\/a>.\u00a0In addition to ecotourism, the Quilombo do Camorim has\u00a0an organic garden and plans to create an environmental museum by repurposing the abandoned framework of an old house built\u00a0by a German who lived in the community after fleeing World War I. The house was built in the Pedra Branca Forest before restrictions limited construction within the park territory.\u00a0The abandoned structure has the potential to be repurposed as a museum of native seeds, plants, and taxidermied animals so visitors can learn more about the local natural environment and biodiversity.<\/p>\n

\"A\u00e7ude<\/a>
\n“Nature gives me strength, it gives me peace, it gives me nourishment,” affirms Adilson.<\/p>\n

The value of respecting and celebrating community knowledge, history, and the local environment is evident from the pride with which Adilson speaks about the quilombo and its forested location. For the Quilombo do Camorim<\/a>, ecotourism is rooted in the narratives and history of the community, serving as a platform for cultural and environmental conservation.<\/p>\n

To arrange a tour with Guias da Natureza, call Adilson Almeida on +55 21 98320 2634 or enter in contact via the ACUCA Facebook page<\/a> or website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Upon visiting the Quilombo do Camorim, it is evident that the community’s cultural history cannot be separated from the natural environment. Located in the neighborhood of Jacarepagu\u00e1\u00a0in the West Zone\u00a0of Rio […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":30384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1288,1670,329,452,1329],"tags":[662,346,1895,756,258,474,221,1561,1560,170,188,569,730,450,279,471,194,21],"writer":[1733],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-30380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-highlight","8":"category-favela-tourism","9":"category-solutions","10":"category-rio20","11":"category-by-international-observers","12":"tag-afro-brazilian-culture","13":"tag-alto-camorim","14":"tag-camorim-quilombo","15":"tag-community-organizing","16":"tag-community-solution","17":"tag-environment","18":"tag-favela-culture","19":"tag-favela-tour","20":"tag-favela-tour-operator","21":"tag-historic-preservation","22":"tag-history","23":"tag-jacarepagua","24":"tag-pedra-branca-state-park","25":"tag-quilombo","26":"tag-slavery","27":"tag-sustainability","28":"tag-tourism","29":"tag-west-zone","30":"writer-nia-mcallister"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=30380"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=30380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}