Vale do Ribeira Quilombos inspire botany book – 04/12/2023 – Environment

The most devastated biome in Brazil, the Atlantic Forest is the source of income for dozens of quilombolas in the Ribeira Valley, in São Paulo.

With ancestral harvesting and planting techniques, residents of the André Lopes, Bombas, Maria Rosa and Nhunguara communities have already handled more than two tons of seeds and contributed to the restoration of around 30 hectares of the area.

This is what the book “From Quilombo to the Forest: A Guide to Plants in the Atlantic Forest in the Ribeira Valley” shows, released this week, in a partnership between ISA (Social and Environmental Institute) and the Vale do Ribeira Seed Network.

Organized by social scientist and specialist in ethnobotany Bianca Cruz Magdalena, the guide brings texts by different authors and makes an X-ray of 52 plant species native to the region. In it, there are explanations about the types of handling, planting, harvesting, cultivation, storage and consumption of each of the plants.

“The book was thought for the collectors themselves”, says Magdalena. “It’s meant to be didactic material, a pedagogical guide.”

In booklet format, “Do Quilombo à Floresta” has a glossary of technical terms and has blank pages for notes.

While the focus is on collectors, the guide should also appeal to fans of botany and sustainability. Its plants are used for a variety of uses, from food to handicrafts.

Health problems such as cough, muscle pain and fever can easily be cured with species such as chamarita, annatto and angico-Branco, detailed in the book.

For urban afforestation, the reader will see benefits in plants such as mastic Pimenteira, conguinho and hull-of-vaca. When the subject is reforestation, capiaguaçu, ficheira and capororoca are among the indications.

Juliano Silva do Nascimento, agronomist and co-author of the book, says that “some of the collectors do not master writing”, but even so, they insisted on participating in its development —with interviews and conversations—, precisely because they appreciated the symbolic value of the record.

Although it sells for more than R$ 242,000, the Seed Network does not only have financial value for the quilombolas. It is also part of the cultural identity of these communities. Harvesting is a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

The wisdom of collectors, by the way, includes techniques recognized by Iphan (National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute) as intangible cultural heritage of the country. With 60 members, the network currently works with 98 plant species and has become a model for regional development.

“The Quilombolas of Ribeira make a socio-environmental contribution beyond their territories”, says Raquel Pasinato, co-author of the guide. “By conserving forests, they help regulate the climate, produce water and promote food security resources.”

Located in the south of São Paulo, the Ribeira Valley has the largest continuous area of ​​the Atlantic Forest. Weeks ago, the biome became the latest environmental controversy in the country, after the Chamber of Deputies approved a provisional measure that loosens laws that protect the forest. Now, the text will go to the Senate.

_{The Quilombos do Brasil project is a partnership with the Ford Foundation.}

The Quilombos do Brasil project is a partnership with the Ford Foundation