From there, she and her husband fished, planted crops, and raised animals. “I was a very happy person in this little piece of earth – it was my paradise,” she says.
Then came the night that changed everything. The rain came with thunder and lightning that tore through the darkness, shaking the small houses along the shore.
Ivanil was forced to relocate due to rising tides and coastal devastation.
In Vila do Pesqueiro, a small traditional community facing accelerating tides and coastal erosion, families came together to weather the storm that would change their lives.
Nearly two years later, the memory remains vivid for Ivanil – every sound, every flash, a reminder of how close the sea had come.
When the tide swept through the community in February 2024, it took with it the land they had called home for generations.
Ivanil and his neighbors had no choice but to abandon their home and rebuild their lives further inland. The distance was short, less than a kilometer, but the change seemed immense.
“Even though we haven’t gone very far, it feels like we’re in a completely different world,” Ivanil said. “This is a mangrove area – hotter, noisier, and there’s no place where we can raise animals or grow crops. »
Jhonny, Ivanil’s son, searches through the rubble of destroyed houses.
Vila do Pesqueiro is home to around 160 families within the Soure Marine Extractive Reserve, a protected area.
It is located across the mouth of the Amazon River from Belem, where the international community is currently meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP30.
The displacement of people due to extreme weather and climate change is one of the key issues that will be discussed.
Reserves like Soure Marine are designed to safeguard the livelihoods and culture of traditional populations while promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.
Fishing remains the community’s main source of income, while local gastronomy and small-scale tourism help families survive.
Precarious existence
But as the tides rise, livelihoods and homes become increasingly fragile.
For many village residents, the changes have become deeply personal. Next to Ivanil lives his son, Jhonny, a fisherman and university student who had just passed his entrance exam for a biology degree when the tide hit.
He grew up watching the ocean change year after year, with stronger tides and faster erosion gradually reshaping the coastline he once knew.
Jhonny remembers how quickly everything started to change. Each season the water got a little closer until one day it reached their house. “The place where our houses were is now underwater,” he said.
He often thinks about the families who still live by the water, knowing that stronger tides are expected next year. “For me, moving is not just about safety,” he said. “It’s about protecting the place and people who have shaped my life.”
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
