We arrived just in time to watch the news on TV. I was secretly thrilled to have been able to watch it there, because there is no TV in my apartment. Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Olympic Games! Shortly after watching Copacabana explode in celebration, Luiz turned off the TV, and said, “Ok, let’s get down to business.” The day was off to a good start.
We found ourselves in the North Zone of Rio to do some research regarding tree planting and community participation. Late next year we will embark on a new endeavor called RioFloresta (in which we will train communities in organizing techniques using tree-planting as a focus). My assignment for the day was to determine how this particular community has already dealt with the management of the current planting project there called Verdejar. We were looking to assess certain leadership qualities for our pilot community.
So, we began by talking to Luiz, the founder of Verdejar. Luiz grew up near Complexo do Alemão, in the infamously barren and mistreated North Zone of Rio. As he told us about his childhood, his eyes glazed over a bit. He spoke nostalgically, in a clear and calm manner, about playing in the forest and caves of rocks near his home.
Time took Luiz traveling and he eventually settled in Curitiba, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. A number of years later, Luiz returned to Complexo do Alemão to find his home nothing like he remembered it. It was desecrated. Fires were burning, litter was accumulating, and while the size and density of the surrounding communities were increasing, their levels of health and safety were decreasing. Something needed to change.
Luiz petitioned to the state, asking them to declare 44 square kilometers of land near his home a protected area. His idea was to design a park similar to those that existed in Curitiba. He wanted to clean up the trash, protect the land of fires, deny construction, and begin to reforest. The land, he thought, could be offered to the community as a recreational space for residents.
Luiz met with the disapproval of residents and drug traffickers. The traffickers planned to build more houses in this space, meaning additional tenants paying rent, a larger territory to control, and more customers. Undeniably, the traffickers were upset that their plans had been thwarted. They threatened to kill Luiz if he did not retract the mandate. Luiz, a man of approximately 5 feet 2 inches, weighing no more than 100 pounds, said that they should kill him. The residents followed suit, but in a less forceful manner. They could not understand why Luiz was against building houses for people: people he had grown up with, people that were his neighbors. They couldn’t see the benefit in keeping the land free of construction.
Luckily, the state agreed to accept Luiz’s proposal, and declared the land a protected area. Metal posts went into the ground designating that sprawl within this area was now strictly prohibited by law. Sadly, however, the threats continued, and eventually, an invasion occurred. Residents ignored the mandate, crossed into the protected area, and began to build. Luiz snapped into action by snapping pictures, calling the police, and having the trespassers removed.
Suffice it to say, keeping the area protected has been an uphill battle. However, slowly Luiz began to accumulate a number of public and private allies, workers, and volunteers. Today, under the name Verdejar, the area remains protected, and reforestation has begun. A number of diverse plant species have been reintroduced, and the residents are realizing the importance of their park. If not for health or safety reasons, but that the property value of their homes has increased.
In order to educate the public, Luiz visits schools and universities to talk about his project. He says it’s difficult to win over the students, but if anything, Luiz is persistent. He knows what he wants, he believes in what he is doing, and he will stop at nothing to achieve what he has set out to accomplish.
– Jamie Worms is CatComm’s 2009-2010 Editorial Intern, based in Rio and working to increase global visibility around community solutions in Rio’s favelas. She recently received her MA in Geography from the George Washington University in Washington, DC. To view and comment on this and other blog posts by Jamie, visit her Action Without Borders Blog.
