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Monte Pascoal National Park is located in the extreme south of Bahia, between the cities of Porto Seguro and Prado, and covers 22,383 hectares.
Its natural area boasts a great diversity of landscapes and unique scenic beauty, such as the beach of Aldeia de Barra Velha with its crystal-clear waters and preserved restinga vegetation, mangroves, restinga forests and the rainy beaches of the Caraíva and Corumbau rivers, as well as the Mussununga fields.
O Monte Pascoal, com seu cume a 356 metros de altitude, garante uma vista panorâmica de 360º da região, além de uma encantadora área de Mata Atlântica, mais especificamente a floresta denominada Ombrofila Densa, com árvores de até 40 metros de altura e folhas sempre verdes, em um clima úmido.
With each kilometre travelled, Mount Pascoal becomes more imposing, evoking the feeling of seeing the first piece of land on a still unknown continent in the distance during the discovery of Brazil.
Right at the gate, you can see that the park is going through a time of transition, in which the Pataxó Indians have practically occupied all the boundaries of the unit, claiming ownership of these lands once occupied by their ancestors.
There is a process underway in Brasilia which, according to the director of the unit, will possibly grant possession of this area to the Indians, which would result in the loss of the title of Monte Pascoal National Park, one of the oldest in Brazil, created in 1961.
There are around 13 villages inside the park, some with electricity, others with generators, and some still without electricity.
The largest of them, Aldeia de Barra Velha, has a good infrastructure, including a school, computers, a leisure area and other facilities.
See the Costa do Descobrimento map
Videos ‘Monte Pascoal National Park’ and ‘Pataxó Indians’
Parque Nacional Monte Pascoal
Parque Nacional Histórico Monte Pascoal
Índios Pataxós e a terra do descobrimento
Monte National Park in Bahia
The Monte Pascoal National Park has great importance in Brazilian history, as it was the first piece of land seen by the Portuguese in 1500, during the ‘Discovery of Brazil’.
Located in the south of Bahia, the park preserves an area of Atlantic Forest and is home to the Pataxó indigenous community, which has inhabited the region for centuries. In addition to its ecological importance, Monte Pascoal is a symbol of the arrival of the colonisers and of indigenous resistance.
Today, the park combines environmental preservation with the cultural and historical revival of Brazil.
1. Main Tourist Attractions
1. Climbing Mount Pascoal
- The park’s main attraction is the climb up Mount Pascoal itself. Although a good physical condition is required, especially for the steep final part, the reward is a spectacular view from the top. From there, you can see the sea, the neighbouring mountains and the dense forest in an impressive panorama. If you’re lucky, you might spot the aerial ballet of king vultures, which fly around the hill in search of thermal currents.
Trails in the Atlantic Forest
- The trails around the mountain allow visitors to walk through the dense vegetation of the Atlantic Rainforest, accompanied by indigenous guides. Although the local fauna is quite scarce due to hunting, there is still the possibility of spotting animals typical of the region. The large trees, such as the jequitibá, jacarandá da Bahia, pequi, paraju and joerana, are abundant and impressive for their size and grandeur.
Visitor Centre
- Located at the foot of Monte Pascoal, the Visitor Centre offers an insight into the activities and handicrafts of the region’s Indians. The centre is a point of interest for those wishing to learn more about the local indigenous culture.
2. Indigenous community
The Tupinambás Indians occupied these lands long before Portuguese colonisation, but in the 16th century it was the Pataxó community that began to inhabit the region, where they remain today.
Surviving mainly from the activities of visiting the park, subsistence farming (manioc, cassava, banana, jackfruit) and raising free-range chickens, it is these indigenous people who manage tourism in the Monte Pascoal National and Historical Park, thanks to the community’s involvement in community-based ecotourism, developed in partnership with the Federal Government.
Ibama has currently established a partnership with the Indians, bringing benefits to the unit, such as firefighting, carried out by a PrevFogo team made up exclusively of indigenous people.
I followed one of these battles, recorded the images and, after a few hours in the middle of a huge fire, I was covered in ash, my clothes and equipment full of soot.
I was able to see for myself the hard work that goes into almost all of Brazil’s parks.
On the other hand, the exaggerated and uncontrolled exploitation of linden wood by the Indians to make handicrafts needs to be reviewed so that it doesn’t cause irreversible damage to the region.
Handicrafts are the main source of income for many indigenous families in the villages. It is therefore essential to take steps to ensure the sustainability and preservation of ecosystems that have existed since the time of the discovery.
Originally from the village of Barra Velha (known as Aldeia Mãe), an indigenous area of Monte Pascoal, the Pataxó people are distributed in several villages throughout the municipalities of Prado, Itamaraju, Santa Cruz Cabrália and Porto Seguro. Always warriors, the Pataxó have fought since the Portuguese invasion around 1500 to establish themselves in a place and preserve their history, culture, language, customs and traditions that have been lost over time.
In the past, the Pataxó were forcibly brought together with the Maxacalis and Botocudos tribes in a village from which they could not leave. ‘In 1861, the people were forcibly settled in Bom Jardim, now the Barra Velha Reserve, near Monte Pascoal.
Later, there was a great massacre, and many Indians fled to avoid being killed,’ says Nitynawã Pataxó, chief of his tribe.
The 1951 massacre, known by the older Indians as the “Fire of “51”, took place in the village of Barra Velha and is a painful part of Pataxó history. According to reports, the violence was caused by state military police. Girls were raped and men beaten. Many Pataxó were forced into slavery due to a lack of options.
Eight years earlier, the government had created the Monte Pascoal National Monument Park, expelling the Indians from their lands and starting the dispersion of the Pataxó people into small villages.
‘Many decided to hide in the forest to preserve their culture,’ explains Nitynawã. The community maintains its rituals such as the Full Moon, marriage and baptism, as well as trying to recover the Patxohã language. ‘We’ve already catalogued more than two thousand words and put together a dictionary, but it’s inside the community because we need the approval of the elders,’ says Nitynawã.
As well as the rituals of singing and dancing (especially the Awê), and traditional medicine based on plants (roots, lianas, leaves, seeds, bark and resins), the preservation of the language is one of the tasks that Nitynawã carries out alongside her sisters Jandaya and Nayara at the bilingual school set up in the Jaqueira Reserve.
In 1998, the year the Jaqueira Reserve was founded, the Coroa Vermelha Indigenous Land, located in the south of Bahia, was also recognised. Comprising an area of 1,493 hectares in the municipalities of Santa Cruz Cabrália and Porto Seguro, it is reserved for the Pataxó population.
Tourism has become an economic alternative for the Pataxó, complementing fishing, handicrafts and the management of piassava. ‘In order to live and preserve the forest and the people, we opened our land to tourism in 2000. Agriculture is more for our own consumption and we haven’t killed any animals for a long time.
Today, we have jaguars and ocelots here. We work on this environmental awareness, because without it we wouldn’t have any more animals,’ concludes Nitynawã.
The Monte Pascoal National Park is an area of great ecological and historical importance, located in the south of Bahia. Its main tourist attractions are centred around the gatehouse, where visitors are allowed access.
3. Access to the Park
Access to the park is via the BR-101 motorway, 76 km from Eunápolis or 16 km from Itamaraju. At the interchange, turn right and drive another 14 km on tarmac to the park gate.
4. Preservation and Sustainability
Even with the possibility of the park ceasing to be administered by IBAMA, there is hope that the indigenous people of the region will become aware of the fragility of the local ecosystems.
The park is home to one of the last stretches of Atlantic Forest in the south of Bahia, and its preservation is crucial both for its historical value and to guarantee the livelihoods and future of generations to come.
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