Tourists invade closed cave in MT; there is a risk of damage – 03/15/2024 – Environment

Considered a wonder of nature in the Center-West, the Lagoa Azul cave, in the municipality of Nobres (151 km from Cuiabá), in Mato Grosso, has been suffering damage due to clandestine visits.

The site has been closed since 2002, due to the risk of degradation, but there are tourists who visit the cave illegally and publish photos and videos on social networks. The rate of invasions has increased in the last year.

When contacted, Sema (Secretariat of State for the Environment) reaffirmed that visits to the site are prohibited. The ministry says there is signage warning about the closure and the risk.

Both the Civil Police and the Public Ministry of Mato Grosso have been receiving complaints about what happened, as there are graffiti and scratches on the rocks in the area. There are old signs in the cave, almost erased, that barely read “do not enter the water”.

Last year, player Deyverson, striker for Cuiabá Sport Clube, posted a photo on his social media with his wife there.

When contacted, the player’s advisors preferred not to comment on the episode.

Visits are facilitated by local guides. According to local neighbors, even people from the municipality ignore the signs stating that the place is prohibited for visitors.

Last Wednesday (13), a photographer published on her social networks a photo shoot of a couple recently taken inside the cave, which revived the discussion about the need for inspection and preservation of the place.

A Sheet the photographer, who requested anonymity, stated that she was hired to carry out the shoot and only found out later that visits were prohibited. According to her, there were no signs or obstacles to reaching the cave.

Based on the number of photos of the place published on social media, he says, the visit also seemed permissible.

According to the president of the Nobres Tourism Council, Marcy dos Reis, the body has been demanding the authorities to increase supervision and signage that visits are prohibited.

Reis says that the council always contacts city hall when there are reports of visits. “We advocate that the State regularize it as quickly as possible and reopen the site, through a concession or for the government itself to manage the site. It has been more than 20 years without any solution.”

The closure of the area began in 1999, through an ordinance from Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). It aimed to stop the “advancement of environmental degradation in the Lagoa Azul cave, due to uncontrolled and predatory tourist use”, the document said.

In June 2000, the site became the responsibility of the state of Mato Grosso, when the Gruta da Lagoa Azul State Park was created. In 2002, visitations were stopped.

Prosecutor Willian Oguido Ogama states that the Public Ministry has been carrying out several actions to prevent illegal visits, such as notifying guides, and is seeking structural solutions for the site, such as the lack of servers, regularization for visits, guidelines, among other issues.

“We managed to reactivate the park’s advisory council and the state indicated that it would regularize the area to allow legal visitation. To do so, it has to follow the Speleological Management Plan. Another demand is that the park has areas that were not yet regularized” , it says.

The prosecutor also states that inspections with the police have been carried out periodically. However, due to the absence of a guardhouse, the guides would be using clandestine trails, says the prosecutor.

“We carried out an operation, but it did not generate effective results because visits occur at dawn and in the morning. And this will be avoided when the state builds a security structure at the site, with guardhouses and gates.”

When contacted, Sema reiterated, in a note, the ban on visits to the Lagoa Azul cave. “The local population also helps in this regard. Anyone entering the site is violating the rules of the environmental agency and assuming the risk of accidents.”

The secretariat also stated that the land regularization process is in its final phase so that the site can be opened again. “The unblocking of the Lagoa Azul cave is a priority goal of the state government.”