The proposed placements are located in the south of Bahia State-Costa das Baleias. The inland area includes the National Parks Monte Pascoal and Parque do Descobrimento.
On the coast is the tiny fisher village of Cumuruxatiba, whose indigenous name means "the place of the big tides". Local fishermen still use sailing canoes with a tipical rig.
In recent years as in many other regions of Brazil the inland was affected by deforestation to open spaces for cattle farming and commercial plantation of Eucalyptus.
The result, together with a negative impact on climate and rainfall, is a severe soil erosion and subsequent sand and mud fulfilling the river beds, that are menaced of drying up. All this sands and mud flows into the sea together with pollution caused by growing population settlements and a lack of a sewage system, affecting severely the coral reefs and the marine environment in general.
In Cumuru the population is growing steadily and in particular the young generations, like elsewhere in Brazil: there are many, many children, so that one of the projects is an educational project, particularly dedicated to improve the lives of the less privileged, offering the opportunity of learning various skills that we hope will remain with them for the rest of their lives.
The local community is becoming active in environmental issues and help is needed to maintain and develop a long term conservation project, focused on the recuperation of the Barrinha river from the sources to his mouth, with the aim to continue with the conservation of the coral reef facing Cumuru.
Also English teaching is in high demand by the young population, to enhance their lives getting a qualified job and at the same time prevent them from migrating to the big cities to look for underpaid jobs.
Every project is really grass-root and offers the opportunity to work in close contact with the local community. Every project has been developed with complete respect for the ancestral culture of the Pataxos.
