Since November 2005, MAP, Instituto Terramar, and Movimento Cultural Arte Manha have been collaborating to increase awareness of mangrove ecosystem and shrimp aquaculture issues and facilitate experience sharing amongst community members from the NE states of Ceara and Bahia.

Proposed mega-shrimp farm

The collaboration has been motivated by a 1,500 ha (3,700 acres) mega-shrimp farm proposed for the city of Caravelas (pop. 5,000), in the extreme south of the state of Bahia. This farm would be the largest yet in Brazil.

Caravelas is located alongside an extensive area of healthy mangroves (>11,000 ha) and adjacent to the Abrolhos National Marine Park.

The park and its buffer zone are important coral reef areas, and are home to the highest marine biodiversity in the South Atlantic.

History of outreach and experience sharing in Caravelas

November 2005, in preparation for a public hearing on the proposed shrimp farm, a group of fisherfolk, shellfish collectors, indigenous leaders, and academics from the state of Ceara, a major producer of farmed shrimp, visited Caravelas and shared their experiences of resistance and struggle against the industry.

August 2006, 3 representatives from the Caravelas area participated in the national seminar in Fortaleza, Ceara, “Mangroves and Community Life: the socio-environmental
impacts of shrimp farming.”

April 2007, 7 Caravelas community members spent 5 days visiting Ceara. The group included 4 shellfish collectors (2 men, 2 women) and a 3-member community media team representing the Caravelas CineClube and the community newspaper O Timoneiro (videographer, photographer, journalist).

Media/Communications

MAP-Latin America is supporting a communications campaign in Caravelas, through the production of multi-media outreach and educational materials (brochures, videos, community newspaper, etc.) on socio-environmental issues, including mangroves and shrimp farming.

Video production

• Establishment of digital editing station

• Acquisition of 3 CCD camcorder for community use
  
• Production of video short "Lia" (in Portuguese, no subtitles), currently making the rounds on the film festival circuit.
  
• In production: 30 min video on social and ecological importance of mangroves

Print media

Support production of Caravelas community, tabloid-format, newspaper O Timoneiro.

Edition 3 - Feb/Mar 2007 (pdf, 12p, 1.6MB)

Program Support

Since 2005, MAP has received funding in support of these activities, as well as pass-through grants to our Brazilian partners, from:

• Global Greentgrants Fund (2005)
  
• Swedish Society for the Conservation of Nature (2005)
  
• Overbrook Foundation (2006)
• Cottonwood Foundation (2006)