About the project

Nova Esperança is located on the Cuieiras River, within the territory of the municipality of Manaus (AM), in the Puranga Conquista Sustainable Development Reserve. The community is in a central region of the Rio Negro Community-Based Tourism Route (Tucorin), an initiative for more sustainable tourism that generates economic incentives and values the culture of local communities.

Through the Route, tourists can get to know and experience the day-to-day life of riverside populations and allocate their resources directly to the communities, without intermediaries. Due to its location, very close to Manaus, Nova Esperança is the center for receiving visitors who hire Tucorin’s services. The community is an iconographic reference for handicrafts and the promotion of indigenous Baré culture. However, its proximity to the urban center means that it receives various influences that can culminate in a gradual de-characterization of its ethnic roots.

In 2016, IPÊ and the C&A Institute, in partnership with the State Secretariat for the Environment (SEMA) and USAID, promoted the construction of the “House of Knowledge”, Uka Yayumbué Baiakù (UKA), a cultural center that benefits the local community and the surrounding populations, with reading options and activities to strengthen traditions.

As a way of broadening this impact, the initiative has become a strategy to promote intercultural dissemination and the reaffirmation and strengthening of the Baré ethnic group. By 2017, the project will have developed activities focused on socio-biodiversity, strengthening and empowering the community in order to value fair work, indigenous education, qualification and the role of women in the value chain of handicrafts and tourism. The aim is also, through responsible visitation at the UKA, to enhance cultural identity, promoting an authentic experience and recognition of Baré handicrafts.