Rio Botanical Garden promotes debate on Quilombos and Conservation Units

On December 1, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden will hold the fifth edition of the Negritude em Foco Forum, an initiative dedicated to promoting Afro-Brazilian knowledge and strengthening debates on memory, history, and the environment. The meeting will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Botanical Garden Museum, with free admission. In this edition, the theme “Quilombos and Conservation Units” guides a reflection on the dialogue between environmental conservation and socio-environmental justice.

Guests Camila Daniel (UFRRJ) and Jorge Luiz do Nascimento (ICMBio) will discuss how quilombo communities have been playing an essential role in protecting ecosystems for centuries. Acting as guardians of nature, they use traditional knowledge for sustainable practices that conserve biodiversity and strengthen their relationship with the land. At the same time, conservation units aim to protect natural areas, which can create tensions when their creation or management does not fully consider quilombola rights and ways of life.

The debate will also highlight how to reconcile environmental protection policies with the recognition of traditional knowledge, addressing challenges of land regularization, sustainable management, and social participation. The mediation will be conducted by researcher Viviane da Fonseca-Kruel (JBRJ), bringing together different perspectives to broaden understanding of conservation combined with territorial justice.

Camila Daniel is an anthropologist and professor in the Graduate Program in Heritage, Culture, and Society (PPGPaCS/UFRRJ). She holds a PhD in Social Sciences from PUC-Rio, was a Fulbright visiting researcher at New York University (2019), and a visiting professor at Columbia University's Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) (2021).

Jorge Luiz do Nascimento has a degree in Biology (UFRJ), a Master's degree in Zoology (National Museum) and is a PhD candidate in Biodiversity in Conservation Units (ENBT/JBRJ). An environmental analyst at ICMBio since 2007, he coordinates research at the Biodiversity Reference Center of the Serra dos Órgãos National Park. He is a guest lecturer at UERJ and a collaborator at ENBT/JBRJ, with experience in conservation projects, citizen science, and environmental education in various Brazilian biomes.

The Negritude in Focus Forum reinforces JBRJ's institutional commitment to the principles of sustainable development, in line with the guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, especially those related to equity, quality education, and the reduction of inequalities.

Negritude in Focus Forum 5th edition: Quilombos and Conservation Units
With Camila Daniel (UFRRJ) and Jorge Luiz do Nascimento (ICMBio)
Date: December 1, 2025
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Multipurpose Room of the Botanical Garden Museum - 1st floor
Rua Jardim Botânico, 1008 – Jardim Botânico.
Seats: 50, on a first-come, first-served basis
Free admission | All ages welcome
Live broadcast on the JBRJ YouTube channel.