IEBMA

Ecology

Instituto Ecológico Búzios Mata Atlântica

IEBMA is a non-governmental organization created in 1996 with the objective of collaborating in the preservation of one of the last remaining original Atlantic Forest units on the Brazilian coast, neither deforested nor reforested. It is located in the municipality of Armação dos Búzios, in the Lakes Region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, which, since 2002, has been part of the Environmental Protection Unit (APA do Pau Brasil).

Activities

Animal Rehabilitation

Since 2010, IEBMA has served as a support point for referring injured wild animals to organizations authorized to provide medical treatment and rehabilitation, such as the Municipal Secretariat for the Environment, INEA, and entities mandated by Petrobras, such as CTA.

Forest Area Restoration

Due to human or even natural factors, such as floods and droughts, IEBMA has been carrying out the recovery of degraded areas since 1996, always based on impact studies conducted by qualified entities such as INEA or authorized NGOs, such as the planting of 500 seedlings in the village of Caravelas, together with local residents, coordinated by Prima Mata Atlântica e Sustentabilidade, carried out in March 2021.

Environmental Education

With the help of the auditorium at the Beach Club, provided by the Apa Pau Brasil Hotel, IEBMA holds lectures, forums and debates with the Public Authorities, environmental and cultural entities, as well as activities open to the community.

Ecological Walks

From Tuesday to Sunday, with the support of the APA Pau Brasil Hotel, ecological walks are conducted with trained guides on two important trails in this area. During the walks, explanations are given about the ecosystem and how to contribute to its preservation. The walks also serve as an opportunity to monitor compliance with conservation laws, such as the prohibition of motorcycles on the trails, identification of traps for the illegal capture of wild animals, and other acts of degradation.

Urban Garden

Maintaining a vegetable garden for the production of organic, pesticide-free food, used for local consumption and for environmental education for visitors to the area as part of one of the trails conducted by IEBMA monitors. Currently being adapted for increased production to supply humanitarian institutions.

Release of Marsupials

The marsupials that live in the Atlantic Forest, such as the opossum, mouse opossums, and catitas, differ from each other in appearance, size, and use of the different 'layers' of the forest (ground, understory, and canopy). Informal observations of the behavior of some species, made in field research by IEBMA, have led to discoveries about the ecology of these species, contributing to the development of future studies and to the preservation of the Atlantic Forest. The municipality of Búzios has a large presence of these animals in the urban areas of the municipality, partly due to the advance of deforestation. These animals are brought to the Institute and we carry out the correct reintroduction of them into their natural environment.

Assistance to Public Authorities

With the support of the Village Praia das Caravelas Civil Association (ACVPC), IEBMA is carrying out the cleaning of the sands of Praia das Caravelas beach, public roads, removal of waste left by visitors in the vegetation along the Village's edge, and cooperative maintenance of public spaces such as Praça das Caravelas (Pyramid Square). They have also partnered in the placement of traffic signs and information for residents and tourists. IEBMA is also printing and distributing informational material at the entrance portal of Estrada das Caravelas, public access to the beach, and the forest trails.

Visibility Through Audiovisual Media

Production and free distribution of globally relevant documentaries made for television with the support of private sector collaborators, representatives from UNESCO, and the American Museum of Natural Sciences in New York.

Contact

Instituto Ecológico Búzios Mata Atlântica (IEBMA)
CNPJ 02.349.420/0001-03
Praia das Caravelas – Armação dos Búzios/RJ - CEP: 28.950-000

Mail: contatoiebma@gmail.com
Social Media – https://www.facebook.com/ong.iebma/

History

Búzios, in the Lakes Region of Rio de Janeiro, boasts one of the last remaining original Atlantic Forest units on the Brazilian coast, neither reforested nor deforested. It is part of a 10,564-hectare Environmental Preservation Unit, created by state decree in May 2002. The work of the Búzios Mata Atlântica Ecological Institute (IEBMA), founded in 1996 by Hugo Iurcovich and Dr. Janis Roze, was fundamental to this. With the participation of Professor Amanda Bernal from the City University of New York, the Boston-based scientific and environmental studies institution Earthwatch Institute, and participants from various parts of the world, they discovered and cataloged, over a 15-year effort, 574 seedlings and young and mature trees of Pau Brasil (Brazilwood).

Due to the expansion of agriculture and urban development, approximately 93% of the Atlantic Forest's coverage has been destroyed. In Búzios, in the area corresponding to José Gonçalves Beach, passing through Caravelas Beach, to the beginning of Peró Beach, on the border with Cabo Frio, in addition to the Brazilwood trees, the preserved forest also features rare plants such as the vanilla orchid, which grow on the trunks of Brazilwood trees, as well as 30 species of bromeliads that retain water and serve as a water source for animals during times of drought, especially the golden lion tamarin and the sloth.

Since then, IEBMA has assisted the environmental authorities responsible for both the Pau Brasil Environmental Protection Area and the subsequently created Costa do Sol State Park (PCsol), in conjunction with the State Environmental Institute (INEA), voluntarily carrying out the inspection and monitoring of activities within the forest. Furthermore, they also develop coordinated actions, such as rescuing wild animals, fighting fires and replanting seedlings around the forest, and environmental education activities for children, young people and adults, in collaboration with the Village Praia das Caravelas Civil Association (ACVPC), with support from the Apa Pau Brasil Hotel.

Notable achievements include coordinating animal rescues in 2011 during the environmental disasters in Nova Friburgo, in the Serra region; rescue and reintroduction of animals to their original environment in 2012 in the Lakes Region; and combating wildfires in 2016 in the wooded areas of the municipality of Búzios. IEBMA has always relied on numerous and valuable volunteers throughout its 25 years.

Based on an existing structure dating back to the 1980s, IEBMA, in partnership with ACVPC and the APA Pau Brasil Hotel, maintains one of the few Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Stations (ETERS) in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state, and the first in the region, ensuring that Praia das Caravelas is completely free of sanitary effluents of any kind. It also maintains and revitalizes two lagoons that had dried up due to climate variations. The IEBMA also fosters the goal of transforming the village nestled within the forest into the first ecological neighborhood of Búzios, also carrying out the collection of organic waste for composting and other activities.

With the support of the Hotel APA Pau Brasil, we maintain a space for lectures and environmental and socio-cultural activities open to the community, in the auditorium, where several meetings, forums, and debates of importance to the municipality and region have already been held, near Praia das Caravelas. Among the significant events, it hosted some of the meetings for the political and administrative emancipation of Búzios, which expressed a popular desire.

Since the 1990s, the IEBMA has also produced audiovisual content with the aim of raising awareness of the risks to the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest, publicizing preservation efforts, and expanding human awareness of the interconnection between humans and nature. Some of these documentaries have been broadcast worldwide on various television channels and are now freely available to everyone through this website.