‘It creates a sense of belonging’: Brazil bets on hiking trails for conservation

The Caminhos da Ibiapaba is Brazil’s newest long-distance trail, with views over the Atlantic forest, pictured. Photograph: Victor Araújo/FUNBIO The country’s network of footpaths is growing – with hopes they will develop local economies and better preserve the environment By Constance Malleret in Ubajara and Sete Cidades, Brazil F ollow the yellow footprints along Brazil’s newest long-distance trail, and they will take you through lush green forests and sandy shrubland, past sweeping vistas and bizarre rock formations, into grottos and rural communities. Spanning 186km (115 miles) of paths once used by 19th-century merchants, the Caminhos da Ibiapaba is the first waymarked long-distance footpath in Brazil’s north-east region, adding to a growing network of hiking trails in the country. Unlike the US or European countries, which have networks of hiking paths dating back more than 50 years, Brazil only recently established a system of trails with standardised markings – black and yellow footprints – with the aim of increasing access to national parks, developing local economies, and better preserving the environment. The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible, says Pedro Cunha e Menezes, director of protected areas at the environment ministry and the main architect of the government’s policy for long-distance trails and connectivity, launched in 2018. “There’s no point telling people, you only protect what you know, if you don’t give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool,” says Menezes. “People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.” Trails also help control wildfires, serve as a deterrent for illegal activities like poaching, and can double as corridors for wildlife, particularly when they connect protected areas as the Caminhos da Ibiapaba does. The trail starts in the Ubajara national park...