Cultural Diversity

It is not just rich biodiversity that makes the Vale do Ribeira unique, but also its impressive cultural heritage. Within the region one can find the largest number of communities descended from quilombos (slaves that escaped from the hands of the Portuguese colonizers to form communities deep in the jungle) in the state of São Paulo, Caiçara communities, Guarani natives, and other traditional communities based on fishing and rural, subsistence agriculture. This degree of cultural diversity is rarely encountered in areas so close to highly urbanized areas, which in this case are the cities of São Paulo and Curitiba (together accounting for a population of over 20 million).

Caiçara Communities

Along the 140 kilometers of the Iguape-Cananéia-Paranaguá Estuary there are around 80 Caiçara communities composed of some 2,456 families. Their way of life revolves around their relationship with the natural cycles and renewable resources of their environment. Their principal economic activity is subsistence fishing and is still carried out use traditional methods which have very low environmental impact and are not prone to depletion of natural resources. In addition to their economy, their cultural and social activities are also based on the traditional family and community structure.

The principal economic activity in the Iguape-Cananéia-Paranaguá estuary is subsistence fishing: José Gabriel Lindoso

In the community of Cananéia around 25 Caiçara communities work primarily in shrimp production conducted by means of traditional fishing in the estuary and the open sea. In the Iguape canal fishing is focused on anchovies and shellfish, from which 15 communities make their living. The 7 communities that live on the Ilha Comprida fish from the beach in certain seasons, while the communities in Guaraqueçaba (estimated at 8,400 people) catch mullet and crab in the canals.

http://flickr.com/photos/phzioli/
http://www.humanecologyreview.org/pastissues/her82/82sanches.pdf

The Vale do Ribeira is home to a large quantity of quilombo communities which were formed at first as communities of slaves that had managed to escape from their Portuguese captors who forced them to work in gold, silver, and diamond mines, which were the primary economic activities of the Portuguese colonizers in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Brazilian Anthropological Association defines a quilombo as “all rural, black communities that consist of descendents of slaves based on subsistence agriculture and where the culture maintains strong links to the past.”

These communities began as the slaves fled into the jungle and established themselves on land where they began subsistence agriculture, but in recent years many have turned to the commercialization of banana as a means of increasing revenues. In the portion of the Vale located in the state of São Paulo there are approximately 50 quilombo communities, although very few of them have proper titles denoting them as such and giving them rights to their land. Considering the strong link between the formation of identity in these communities and their land, from which they make their living, the matter of territorial recognition and the obtainment of legal titles to the land are essential.

Quilombo Communities

Ivaporunduva Community: one of the oldest remaining Quilombo communities: Marcos Gamberini/ISA

Ivaporunduva, considered one of the oldest remaining quilombos in the region, is situated in the municipality of Eldorado and has a total area of 3,158.11 hectares (7,800 acres). Since the year 2000 it has a title bestowed by the Fundação Palmares (http://www.palmares.gov.br/) recognizing its territory. After 12 years of struggle it became the first community in the state of São Paulo to achieve the full recognition of its lands. Data from the São Paulo Institute of Lands (ITESP in Portuguese), the organization responsible for the recognition of quilombos in São Paulo, affirms that currently only 19 quilombos in the Vale do Ribeira have had their lands officially recognized, while 8 are currently in the process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilombo

Guaraní Communities

There are 10 Guaraní villages in the Vale do Ribeira today, composed of families from the Mbyá and Ñandeva subgroups. The National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI in Portuguese - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funda%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Nacional_do_%C3%8Dndio) estimates that the indigenous population in the region is over 400 individuals. The Guarani Mbyá live close to or within the conservation areas where they practice traditional subsistence agriculture. Hunting and fishing are seasonal activities and their relationship with their environment is defined by their traditional religious beliefs.

The presence of the Guaraní villages in the Vale do Ribeira is marked by intense mobility, or nomadism, due in part to the lack of regularization of their agricultural activities which often take place in designated conservation areas. An example of this instability can be seen in the villages called Cerco Grande and Morro das Pacas, whose people had to leave their traditional territories because they were located on land designated for the Superagüi National Park. Another case of this kind of displacement from traditional lands was, Pacurity which was moved from the traditional village of Cananéia because that land was included in the Ilha do Cardoso State Park

http://www.isa.org.br/pib/english/whwhhow/verbetes_Guaraní.shtm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaran%C3%AD
http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/Guaraní

Rich cultural heritage and biodiversity with a low Human Development Index (HDI)

In contrast to the rich environmental and cultural heritage of the Vale do Ribeira, the area has the lowest Human Development Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index) in the states of São Paulo and Paraná, with the highest infant mortality and illiteracy rates in both.

The local population has no adequate economic alternatives to raising cattle, banana plantations, and subsistence agriculture in order to assure the sustainable development of the region. These activities have led to the degradation of the environment and loss of biodiversity, and are far from providing a dignified living standard for the inhabitants of the region. The social and environmental situations are aggravated by the proximity of the region to the major industrial and urban centers of São Paulo and Curitiba, as well as recent infrastructure investments such as the expansion of the Regis Bittencourt Highway (BR-116), proposals for the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Ribeira de Iguape River, and plans to transfer water from the region to São Paulo and Curitiba in order to supply drinking water to their urban populations.

All of this threatens to transform the Vale do Ribeira into a supplier of cheap natural resources, exploited without respect for the environmental and cultural heritage and without in any way remunerating the peoples residing in the area while depriving them of the land and resources which their lives depend on.