The fishing community of Barra do Mamanguape on Brazil’s northeastern coast used to be a hunting site for manatees. But today, the villagers have turned to ecotourism and are now protecting the manatees, Mongabay’s video team reported in May.
The village estuary, where river meets the sea, has warm, calm waters, perfect habitat for manatees. During Brazil’s colonization, manatees were considered a delicacy, with the meat eaten by local fishers and the skin and oil exported to Europe.
“What I heard is that its meat was similar to pork,” Marinalva Brito, a local fisher and business owner, told Mongabay.
Initially scientists knew very little about manatees. By the time they’d assessed their populations, the species was considered critically endangered, prompting conservation efforts, including the founding in 2013 of the nonprofit Viva o Peixe-Boi Marinho (Long Live the Sea Manatee).
The group engaged with local fishers to learn from them and raise awareness about conservation.
“They knew a lot. And from that, we had lectures, there were face-to-face conversations, there were experiences of participating in fishing activities with them,” João Carlos Borges, coordinator of Viva o Peixe-Boi Marinho, told Mongabay.
With this sustained community outreach, local attitudes began to change. Instead of killing stranded manatees for food, villagers were now reporting them for rescue.
“My grandparents were people who ate manatees, and today we have a different experience,” ecologist Sebastião dos Santos told Mongabay. “We learned that, within the communities, the manatee is much more important alive, contributing to generate income, to attract people to come here.”
Today, the manatees are attracting ecotourists, who support the community by spending money on local accommodation, food and services.
The residents have also become advocates of the manatees’ cause, helping monitor and rehabilitate stranded manatees. Since the 1990s, the group has rescued around 60 manatees.
Although manatees are no longer hunted, some are injured by boats strikes, suffering deep cuts from propellers. At least 10 rescued manatees that were returned to the wild have been hit by boats. So the group is working to propose stronger rules on boat travel in the area to prevent such accidents.
It’s also advocating for stricter enforcement of existing regulations: more than 80% of the manatee boat strikes happen within 200 meters (660 feet) of the coastline, which is supposed to be off-limits to boat traffic, meaning the vessels involved are inside a prohibited area.
“So our big challenge is how to get all of society involved in a responsibility that is shared by everyone, which is this mission of conserving manatees,” Borges said. “We need to change, and quickly.”
Watch the video “How manatees won over an entire village” here.
Banner image of a manatee in Barra do Mamanguape, courtesy of Projeto Viva o Peixe Boi-Marinho.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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