Welcome to the world of Nature beings.

Whilst travelling in South America, I explored the ecosystems, culture and folklore of the places I visited and documented them in my notebooks. I am particularly interested in trees, their ecological and sociological interactions, and the more-than-human beings that inhabit the forests.

Head over to my Instagram to see these stories explained in my reels 💚

The Curupira

“O bosque não se vende, se ama e se defende”
“The forest is not for sale, it is to be loved and protected”

This is the Curupira. He is the forest guardian of Brazilian folklore who protects the rainforests from harm, roaming his territory and warding off poachers.

In the 16th century, when the Portuguese arrived to colonise Brazil, a Jesuit priest, José de Anchieta, described a “certain demon” who was feared by indigenous peoples and often punished or even killed those who entered the forest.

This demon was known as the Curupira, a name derived from the Tupi-Guarani language (“kuru’pir” which means “covered in blisters,”) because of his fiery and mysterious nature.

His supernatural abilities thwart the efforts of those who disregard the connection with the natural world. Known for his bright red hair, which bursts into flames when he is angered or threatened, and his backwards-facing feet, leaving footprints which fool those who chase him.

He inhabits the native rainforests of Brazil; the Amazon and, the lesser-known but equally important, Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Rainforest). So, he reminds those who dare venture into his forest domains to beware of their intentions.

Embaúba, Cecropia spp.

This is the Embaúba. She is a pioneer of the Mata Atlântica, the Atlantic Rainforest, one of Brazil’s six biomes, which is found in the southeastern part of the country.

She has an amazing symbiotic relationship with ants (in Portuguese “formigas”) of the Azteca genus. The ants nest inside her hollow trunk and feed their fungal garden with her leaves. There’s also a whole consortium of other organisms and microbes (💚🦠) that live together and produce natural products to regulate the ecosystem. Natural products, also known as secondary metabolites, are compounds that play an important role in Nature. They have many roles, including acting as signalling molecules, antibiotics, antifungal, defence compounds and giving medicinal properties to many plants found in Nature.

The Embaúba and her relationship with ants, inspired the name of an NGO I volunteered with in Brazil, Formigas-de-Embaúba. These guys are doing amazing work, planting mini-forests of Mata Atlântica in state schools in the city of São Paulo and running a nature education curriculum. The symbiosis between the tree and the ants is a metaphor for the kind of relationship they want to build with young people and Nature, helping children to connect by learning about the natural world, and getting their hands in the soil, planting trees!

Araúcaria (Brasileira), Araúcaria angustifolia

This is the mother (or grandma!) tree of the Serra da Mantiqueira. She’s part of the Mixed Ombrophilous forest, also known as the Araúcaria forest, part of the Mata Atlântica biome in Brazil.

She’s an ancient being that inhabited the Earth with the dinosaurs and her presence is felt to this day in the colder, higher altitude areas in Brazil (like the Mantiqueira mountains) and further south. She has a close relationship with indigenous peoples, her seeds, the pinhões are an important source of protein and starch, and this relationship helped with her gene flow and therefore genetic diversity. As hunter-gatherer communities migrated north from southern Brazil eating her pinhões and using her branches and leaves (who fall naturally as she grows) for starting fires, they helped spread her seeds and helped her “walk” further up north.

Unfortunately, she’s now on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered due to habitat loss due to agriculture, logging and exploitation of her wood, in the European colonisation she was cut down and used to build ships, railroads, furniture and much more. But now she is a protected species thanks to conservation movements, and I hope that she’ll continue to live in the Mantiqueira for years to come💚

Araúcaria (Chilena), Araúcaria araucana

This the Araucaria araucana, the Chilean cousin of the Araucaria angustifolia, who I studied in Brazil. These two are the only remaining South American members of the family, Araucariaceae, who were once widespread in the times of Gondwana. They are living fossil trees and lived when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

The Araucaria araucana is native to the Andes mountains of Chile and Argentina, but can also be found in gardens in the UK. You Brits may recognise her as “The Monkey Puzzle Tree”. That’s because an English botanist brought her back on an expedition to Chile at the end of the 1700’s and she became a popular ornamental tree.

In Chile, she is known as the “Pewen” and is the sacred tree of the indigenous Mapuche people (“Mapu” - tierra/earth, “che” - gente/people: people of the Earth), and the Pewenche (people of the Pewen). For thousands of years, they have revered her as their protector, collected and helped spread her seeds. Their stories sing like the wind whistling through her leaves, but are we ready to listen?

The European colonisation in Chile and Argentina brought great threats to all natives of the lands. The remnants of which persist in Chile to this day. The Araucaria is now registered on the IUCN Red List as “Endangered” and is under threat, particularly due to climate change. But, she is now protected with “National Monument” status, so I hope she will be around for thousands more years to come.

And some from my pocket-sized notebook…

These are quicker in-field illustrations of different places I visited during my travels.

People, plants and places 💚

Selaginella and Notes from Ubatuba, Brazil.

Juçara, Palm of the Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil

Exploring Sitio São José and Veiled Lady Mushroom