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Background on Brazil 

Anyone who has ever visited Brazil will tell you that it is a country of incredible beauty with a strong and vibrant culture, warm and welcoming people, and a land of extremes in terms of natural wealth and social and cultural diversity. From the festive and relaxed attitude of the locals in Rio de Janeiro to the indigenous populations deep in the heart of the Amazon, few countries in the world contain such a diversity of peoples, culture, history and environment.

A country the size of the continental United States, Brazil dominates the geographic space of South America and shares a border with every country in the continent, with the exception of Chile and Ecuador. To many, Brazil is best known for its vast Amazon forests and the rich history of development, deforestation, and politics surrounding the region. Brazil by far has more tropical forest than any other country in the world and thus holds a truly unique role in global environmental affairs and particularly in the world of international environmental politics.

Brazil Trip Overview (usually Fall semesters)

Every semester our class travels overseas as part of the course.  In the fall terms, we normally travel to Brazil (during November).  An overview of our typical trip is provided below.  Each year, there will be somewhat different destinations and experiences, but the general structure will roughly be as described below.

The first part of our trip is a visit to Brazil's most famous city - Rio de Janeiro - in the southern part of the country, where the local environmental and development challenges consist of an array of unique actors, issues, and dynamics. The several days spent in Rio de Janeiro is designed not to give students an appreciation for Brazil's nightlife (in fact, for safety purposes, I urge students to avoid the nightlife in Rio), but to expose students the pressing urban challenges facing Brazil and how these struggles compare with those in the rural, jungle covered parts of Brazil. During our stay in Rio de Janeiro, we will also have the opportunity to learn about the broader economic and political aspects of the country at large so that we will have a solid understanding of the broader context under which the local struggles in the Amazon are taking place.

Among highlights of this segment of our trip, we spend some time with community groups in different favelas, including one called "City of God" (or "Cidade de Deus" in Portuguese).  While this favela has earned a bad reputation as a result of the 2002 City of God movie, the current reality of this poor neighborhood is strikingly different than what is portrayed in the movie.  The people are extremely friendly, upbeat, and there are a good number of community organization helping to bring about better opportunities for the youth, for low-income families, and for the broader community.  We spend time with two very inspirational community groups -- the CAMP project and the PEM project -- both of which focus on youth education, and youth personal development initiatives.

State of Amazonas

The majority of time spent in Brazil (approximately 15 days) will be spent in the central Amazon region – in the state of Amazonas. The Amazon region itinerary consists of a mix of meetings with NGOs, ecologists, community groups, and the like. The issues addressed include:

• the struggle between protecting the rainforests and meeting peoples needs

• the work and role of scientific research on rainforest fragmentation

• community organization, local-level projects, and linkages with larger NGOs

• ecotourism as a means to promote economic development and environmental protection

• fisheries and flooded forest conservation through community efforts

The above will of course vary to different degrees, depending on scheduling changes and a range of logistical factors.  Our trip will include several discreet destinations in the central Amazon region, several river excursions, site visits, meetings with researchers, policymakers, and community members, and will primarily be based around localities on or near the Amazon River itself.

Boat Trip up the Rio Negro – 3 days / 2nights

A day after our arrival in Manaus, we travel up the Rio Negro (Black River) to somewhat less accessible areas. As part of this trip, we will pass through the Meeting of the Waters, where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon and flow side by side for miles.  The trip takes us through several protected areas (ESEC Anavilhanas, APA, etc.).  Along the route we will visit several riverside communities.  We also visit the small town of Novo Airão where several local NGOs are located, both working with handicrafts. Novo Airão is known for its boat building skilled craftsman.  It also has a small archeological museum. There are several Jungle hotels (Ariau Tower, Jungle Palace, Acajatuba Jungle lodges) along the route that can be visited and compared to the concepts of ecotourism and Nature tourism.

INPA & PDBFF – 2 days/nights

Initiated in 1979, the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) is a bi-national, collaborative research project between the Smithsonian Institution and the Brazilian Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA). As one of the only long-term projects evaluating the impacts of human activities in the Amazon, the BDFFP represents a cutting-edge study of forest fragmentation and serves as a model for similar studies in other tropical regions.

Located north of Manaus, the BDFFP has conducted research on the effects of fragmentation on Amazonian forests for over 20 years. In addition to studying plant and animal communities in forest fragments before and after surrounding forest was cut down and turned into pasture, fragments are compared with adjacent areas of continuous forest. The Project also promotes studies on basic tropical ecology and areas related to forest regeneration. Each year, about 20 different research activities are developed as part of the BDFFP.

Conditions at the research site are quite rustic.  Sleeping arrangements will be in hammocks hanging from an open structure (yes, that means a structure without walls, so do not expect much privacy during this time).  You will be provided with a hammock and mosquito net.  There are bathrooms with flush toilet and cold shower, but this is about as plush as it gets.  See http://pdbff.inpa.gov.br/iquem.html

Silves Community and Aldeia dos Lagos – 6 days/nights

The town of Silves is off the beaten path.  It is a half day trip, 300 km northeast of Manaus (yes, even closer to the equator); you go partly by van and partly by motorized canoe to island and town of Silves.  The boat trip alone is a great experience where you can get a feel for the water-dominated landscape of rivers, estuaries, lakes, and islands.  You soon realize why there are so few roads in the region (or in the Amazon in general).  There are also only a limited number of authentic ecotourism organizations in the area.  One of our partners -- Viverde -- is probably the best of any of those in existence in the state of Amazonas.

Silves Island, in the great Canacari Lake, is situated at the outflow of five main rivers - Urubu, Itabani, Sanabani, Igarape Acu and Igarape Ponta Grossa - which feed the Amazon (see satelite maps of Silves area or a labeled map here, showing rivers and lakes).  The island community is small enough to walk around in an afternoon.  The “downtown” area has a few restaurants and mini-shops where you can buy a small variety of products. Read more on Silves and the role of WWF-Brazil here.  Each year, we stay at a community ecotourism lodge called Aldeia dos Lagos (Village of Lakes).  The income generated by the Aldeia dos Lagos Hotel goes toward the conservation of fishing lakes in the region and will also help to improve the quality of life for local people.  A group of our students helped the community put together a brochure to help promote their ecotourism initiative to an English-speaking market.  Download a copy of the brochure here.  The lodge includes private rooms with electricity, private shower, and a small patio with hammocks.  Meals, including fresh fruit juices and local fish, are provided by the community members who earn income working at the lodge.  In addition to visits to nearby communities and ecosystems, we also visit a unique women's group called Avive, which - despite its humble size and scope - recently won an international award from the UNDP.  Find more details on Avive here.

To learn more about one of the catalysts, behind this initiative, click here (details from Ashoka).  Aldeia dos Lagos was built as a part of the Project "Silves: a Project of Ecotourism of local Community in the Brazilian Amazon" executed by ASPAC, technical support of WWF-Brazil and sponsored by the Austrian Government and WWF. The project aim was to develop the first Ecotourism community based undertaking in Amazon Region. 

Our time spent at Silves includes a number of guided tours to different parts of the nearby waterways, forests, lakes, and neighboring communities.  We also hear from several members of the community and from other civic groups in town about the work that they do (including ecotourism, craft-making, soap making, community gardens and nurseries, and the like). 

ASPAC – Associação de Silves para Preservação Ambiental e Cultural – is non-profit and non-governmental Brazilian organization composed by local communities and their members, living in the region of Amazonian lakes surround the Silves Island. ASPAC works on the development of ecotourism with the traditional communities of Silves to assure that the resources and benefits from this activity can return for the protection of the local lakes.

Research station camp site - Amazonas

Floating dock near a small village

Children learn boating early in the Amazon region

Our students with kids from the favela in Rio de Janeiro