A wealth of culture and exceptional natural beauty make Paraty and Ilha Grande in Angra dos Reis a unique destination. This is the premise supporting the nomination of Brazil's first mixed site for World Heritage status. Experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), advisory bodies to UNESCO, visited Brazil from September 10 to 16 to evaluate the site for global recognition.
The nomination Paraty: Culture and Biodiversity covers a territory of 130,000 hectares, where the historic center is surrounded by four environmental preservation areas. Boasting areas of primary vegetation, the territory includes the Serra da Bocaina National Park, the Ilha Grande State Park, the Praia do Sul State Biological Reserve, and the Juatinga State Ecological Reserve. If approved, this mixed site will be recognized as both cultural and natural heritage.
Out of 1,092 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, only 38 are mixed. The site is expected to receive the designation at the next World Heritage Committee meeting, which will take place from June 30 to July 10, 2019, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The nomination is the result of a partnership between the Ministry of the Environment, the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), and the municipal governments of Paraty and Angra dos Reis.
Cultural and Natural Heritage
Over the course of a week, the evaluation mission covered an extensive route. They flew over the Serra da Bocaina National Park and walked along a section of the Gold Trail (Caminho do Ouro), which preserves archaeological vestiges of the historic routes built into the country's interior. In Paraty's historic center, they visited exhibitions of liturgical objects at the Museum of Sacred Art, the Casa de Cultura, a rare bird exhibition at SESC, and sampled local cuisine from the city, which holds the title of Creative City of Gastronomy.
In the parks, they went birdwatching early in the morning. At the Paraty-Mirim Village, they watched a performance by the Mbyá Guarani choir. At Quilombo do Campinho, they saw a jongo performance. The region's community-based tourism highlighted the interaction between culture and the environment, demonstrated through the restoration of the Atlantic Forest using agroforestry techniques. At Fazenda Bananal, they observed agricultural production within an agroforestry system.
During a tour of Juatinga, they had the opportunity to explore the jagged coastline and its lush environment, home to about fifty traditional Caiçara, indigenous, and Quilombola communities. After a helicopter flyover of the Ilha Grande environmental area, they landed in Angra dos Reis and toured areas where nature is remarkably lush and diverse.
“The mission demonstrated how culture and nature are integrated across the territory. Whether in traditional communities or in Paraty's own drainage system, which respects tidal movements, we find a lesson in environmental stewardship,” said Marcelo Brito, Director of Cooperation and Development at Iphan.
Stages of the Nomination
The nomination process begins with the technical preparation of the dossier, which was submitted to UNESCO in January 2018. Following the evaluation by ICOMOS and IUCN, these bodies will produce a final report to support the World Heritage Committee's analysis. By December, the entities responsible for the nomination—Iphan, the Ministry of the Environment, the municipal governments of Paraty and Angra dos Reis, and other involved municipalities—will collaboratively develop a shared management plan for the site.
Beyond bringing visibility to this major Brazilian destination, the designation establishes an international commitment to protecting the historic and natural site. In Minas Gerais, the Pampulha Modern Ensemble was recognized by UNESCO in 2016. Since then, the site has received about 50,000 additional visitors per year. In 2017, over 191,300 people visited Pampulha.
This article was originally published on the Iphan website.
This article was written by Romullo Baratto. The translation is powered by AI.
