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Island of Maracujá

GENERAL OVERVIEW

The island of Maracujá is located between the municipalities of Belém and Acará. By the state division the island belongs to Acará, but the Municipality of Belém also recognises it as part of it. The island is a rural territory with approximately 135 families. The territory is by the riverside and the economic activity is mainly based on extractive practices such as the predominant collection of cocoa and açaí. The products are sold at fairs and ports in Belém, and also used for consumption by the families themselves. In addition to the riverside identity, part of the residents call themselves quilombola, even though the territory is not officially recognised as such. In 2018, the Quilombola Association of Riverside Residents of the Juçara and Jenipauba Islands of Maracujá was created. It helps students to enter the University through the special quilombola selection process. The island's access is only through the river, and its isolation condition allows the community's greater control over land occupation, so that the plots are not sold to outsiders. Due to its insular condition influenced by the navy, the island belongs to the Union (federal land). Since 2008 the island has been demarcated as an Agroextractivist Settlement Project by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). In the same year the plots were divided and its possession condition formalised.

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CENTRAL TOPIC

The island of Maracujá has a traditional riverside occupation and its residents have a strong relationship with nature. The river is the only form of access and also a means for obtaining food, while the preserved forest in the interior of the island is managed for extractive practices. The counter-cartography project can assist in identifying the dynamics of associations and movements existing in the island, as well as positioning the process of riverside occupation in relation to other islands in Belém that are already undergoing land use transformations and appropriation by external agents. In this way it is possible to identify flows, points of contact, convergences and approximations of traditional occupation with other urban practices.

PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Name to be confirmed

Our community is receptive to all visitors, we have many things that need to be seen, we have a well-preserved fauna and flora and that makes us very proud. We are forgotten by the public authorities and perhaps that is the reason why we are somewhat "hidden" or little seen, whether on the networks or in documentaries, magazines, etc. Our community has a lot of touristic potential that needs to be looked at differently and receive investments in infrastructure among others.

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