Pousada Picinguaba luxury beach resort, Brazil

At Pousada Picinguaba our goal is to encourage activities that are not contradictory with our vision, which means that they represent a source of income for local populations without damaging the environment and highlighting the unique natural resources of this place. The traditional population of the south-western coast is the 'caiçara' community, defined as a subculture derived from the mixture between autochthons, Portuguese and African immigration, based on nomad agriculture, traditional fishing, extraction and craftsmanship.

The preservation of their traditional way of life is endangered by the development and extension of both Sao Paulo’s and Rio de Janeiro’s areas of influence. During the second half of the 20th century, some politicians decided to finally create Natural Reserves in order to protect what was left of the Mata Atlantica. Thus, fruit extraction and agriculture were immediately prohibited. As industrial sea fishing was developed, little was left for these traditional fishermen, who started immigrating to the big cities and populating the slums in them. Our aim is to give local populations an alternative source of income, letting them stick to the property rights of their ancestors instead of selling their lands to real estate investors who speculate with the growing prices in the region. Responsible tourism allows people to stay in their lands and brings an environment-friendly source of income.

We try to help the local community financially in five ways; by hiring local people only and giving them as much training as possible, as well as English and French lessons, and paying for their lessons if necessary. We buy as much locally produced and biological food as possible, and mainly fish (and it couldn’t be otherwise in a fishermen’s village). We also try to encourage local craftwork, and sell its products in our hotel. We are helping to finance the local community center, whose aim is to organize different activities for the children of the village and their school.

This region today treasures the last remains of the Mata Atlantica, the indigenous tropical forest of the South-East of Brazil. Only 8% of the coastal Mata is left today, most of it protected by state-owned Natural Parks. Recently, big tourist facilities were developed between Caraguatatuba and Ubatuba, and the growth of the population is higher than anywhere else in the State of Sao Paulo. We are inside the Serra do Mar State Park, where law forbids building, and where the development of new activities is (or should be) strictly controlled. We have created an NGO, the APIS, which aim is to take action to protect the region, mostly through education do the environment.

The problem of illegal buildings and of the growth of the population is also the problem of water supply, since all the water of the village comes from two or three little waterfalls located uphill. That means that in the village water supplies are very fragile. At Pousada Picinguaba our priority is to reduce our water consumption. We monitor our consumption and have already adopted some measures in order to reduce it: most taps have debit control devices, the pool cleans and reuses its own water, and is never emptied.We also try to buy as much biodegradable products as possible, in particular cleaning and laundry products.

We try to reduce our electricity consumption, but today it is not our priority. We have no televisions or air conditioning in the rooms. With 80% occupation, Pousada Picinguaba consumes 138kWh per day, an average of 8.6kWh/guest. Our main field of action for the moment is to stop using bottled gas. A water heater working with solar power is going to replace the current one, that works with gas only. Solar power will soon arrive at the pousada; we are currently studying the feasibility of the project and looking for the right providers. Solid waste is sent to be recycled.