News - Articles - Green Passport Campaign in Action

Marrakech Process Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Green Passport Campaign in Action: Paraty, Brazil

The historic town of Paraty, nestled in a quiet bay along on Brazil’s scenic Atlantic coastline, and storied for its 17th century role in shipping gold from the mines of Minas Gerais to the shores of Portugal, is taking new strides to integrate its unique cultural assets into a sustainable tourism strategy.

With its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture and lush green hills, the port town was recently chosen as the pilot location for carrying out the UN’s Green Passport Campaign, launched in March 2008 to educate travelers about preserving the environment and respecting cultural heritage while on holiday.

But what started as basic awareness-raising for tourists has catalyzed a larger push within the Paraty community to protect its cultural patrimony, and transform itself into a truly sustainable town. The pursuit has mobilized everyone from the area’s famed pousada hotels and family restaurants, to larger cultural associations and government bodies.

With information materials and financing from the French government, Paraty residents have organized workshops to “Brazilianize” the campaign’s global message to be aware of – and minimize – the travel footprint. Community members are voicing their opinions and tailoring that reminder to their specific industries and needs.

“The workshops were very productive,” says Thibault Devanlay, a French government official and chair of the Marrakech Process Task Force on Sustainable Tourism, a team of governments and UN agencies that helped to initiate the Green Passport Campaign. “They were a testament to participatory decision-making.”

During the workshops, the area’s three native Indian populations, who are directly affected by swelling tourist flows, established parameters for visits to their villages. They set rules for how and when tourists could arrive, deciding, for example, against overnight stays and tours lasting less than one hour. They also took the lead in determining entrance fees and channels for redistributing funds into the community.

“They know exactly what sustainable tourism is, how to teach it and how to preserve their culture,” explains Mr. Devanlay. “We started one idea, and it has grown into a very big movement for Paraty.”

The Rio de Janeiro state government and three federal offices have also stepped in to tackle Paraty’s often un-discussed – but huge – sanitation problem, which has long stymied efforts to fully tap human, cultural and economic potential. Authorities at all levels are now looking at financing waste disposal projects, recycling programmes and general sanitation strategies to spruce things up.

The hope is that Brazil’s ministries of tourism and environment will soon announce which projects will go forward and how the work will break down.

Brazil took an early lead in organizing the Green Passport Campaign, and hopes to replicate Paraty’s pilot project elsewhere in the country. “This project has been led by an emerging country, which is why I found it so interesting,” says Mr. Devanlay. Similar projects are in the works for the Mediterranean region next year.

For more information, please visit: