Solidarity Planet

How a social project became a tourist attraction (and vice versa)

The Almerinda Malaquias Foundation, in the Amazon, embraces the riverside community and attracts travelers of all ages

By Henrique Skujis

The kids widen their eyes. A piece of wood, left over from a tree that has fallen to the ground in the Amazon Forest, is being transformed into an arapaima. In the skilled hands of the craftsmen, the stump comes to life. A manatee, an armadillo, a turtle, a porpoise or an alligator appear. A world of make-believe is born. The fauna of the largest tropical forest on the planet becomes a puppet in the imagination of children. Or a tailor-made ornament for adults to take home.

Visiting the studio of the Almerinda Malaquias Foundation, in Novo Airão, a city on the banks of the Rio Negro, 130 kilometers from Manaus, is a trip for outsiders of all ages. While 40 riverside dwellers, who are trained and organized in a cooperative, produce the delicate handicrafts in front of the curious eyes of the traveler, a hundred children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years old run between the trees, singing, dancing and sitting down to learn (and teach) environmental education.

“If a school book mentions a species of tree, here at the foundation the children observe, touch and climb it,” says Miguel de Souza, one of the educators who interact with the children on a daily basis.

In addition to taking them off the street, the free activities for the local children make the students aware of the importance of maintaining the standing forest. In the studio area, the craftsmen receive training and work with the tools of the foundation. Part of the revenue from the sales is used to pay for the expenses of the foundation and the eventual replacement of tools, but most of the profit goes directly to the craftsmen. As well as handicrafts with wood, the foundation also produces soaps and objects made from recycled paper.

Slide photos and see FAM’s handicrafts with wood

The history of the Almerinda Malaquias Foundation began precisely because of the wooden stumps. They were the apparently useless remains of the then frenetic boat industry in Novo Airão. It was the 1980s. Miguel Rocha da Silva, an entrepreneur and ecotourism guide, had the idea of recycling these leftovers from the trees to make replicas of the boats that were being made in the shipyards of the small town with 20,000 inhabitants. The objective was to generate extra income for the riverside dwellers by selling handicrafts to the daring travelers who appeared in the town.

In 1992, one of these travelers, the Swiss Jean-Daniel Vallotton, landed in Novo Airão with a television crew on the way to Parintins. On the trip to the folkloric festival, he met Marta Vieira da Silva, Miguel’s daughter, from whom the Swiss had rented the boat. Upon learning about the project, the Swiss – enchanted by the forest and, coincidentally, with a technical background in woodworking – decided to embrace the cause. With funds from European friends, he created the Ailleurs Aussi Association. In 1997, he arrived in Novo Airão with a suitcase, a gourd and two containers full of woodworking equipment.

He married Marta and, in 2000, he joined forces with his father-in-law and started the foundation, named after Miguel’s mother and father, Almerinda and Malaquias. At that time, the riverside dwellers were already struggling with income due to the prohibition of hunting and fishing because of environmental legislation after the creation of the Anavilhanas and Jaú national parks – with a size equivalent to Switzerland. Novo Airão has more than 90% of its territory under protection. “Crafts became an important source of income for the population,” says São Paulo engineer Ruy Carlos Tone, chairman of the board of the foundation since 2015.

Ruy is the name behind the foundation. Entrepreneur and owner of Katerre, a travel agency specializing in the Amazon, he met Miguel, Jean, Marta and company during his travels through the forest. He built a high-quality hotel (the Mirante do Gavião) and a 64-foot, three-story boat (the Jacaré-Açu) and began taking tourists up the Rio Negro. He was delighted with the foundation’s proposal and began to collaborate with his entrepreneurial talent. Today he spends a handful of days each month in Novo Airão to take care of the business and to support the foundation.

In 2012, with a grant of US$ 85,000 from the Japanese government, the foundation incorporated an area of native forest 6 kilometers from the city center. Named Ekobé, the location houses an awareness and research center on the environment. To encourage its students to exercise their skills in ecotourism, the Espaço Ekobé opened a 2.4-kilometer trail, in 2018, with strategic and explanatory stops to observe the examples of the flora and fauna of the forest. The walk can and should be taken by visitors before or after an unmissable visit to the studio.