Project for a Mega Hiking Trail in the Atlantic Forest Gains Traction

04/23/2018 - 10h36

Public agencies, third-sector organizations and local communities are coming together to implement the Atlantic Forest Pathway Project (Caminhos da Mata Atlântica): a 3,000-kilometer hiking trail along the coasts of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

The trail will pass through more than 70 municipalities and conservation units. According to Anna Carolina Lobo, the coordinator of the Atlantic Forest and Marine Program, which is being implemented by WWF-Brazil NGO, more than 3,800 kilometers have already been mapped out and around 80% of the trail can already be accessed. The most developed sections are in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraná and Santa Catarina.

According to the NGO, the idea was brought forward in 2012, during the 7th Brazilian Congress of Conservation Units (CBUC). WWF is expecting to interconnect all the trails in the next ten years.

	Pedro Junior/Divulgação
	State park Intervales

The Atlantic Forest path will be a part of the Coastal Trail Corridor, supported by ICMBio, which will connect Oiapoque (Amapá) to Chuí (Rio Grande do Sul). "This is going to be the biggest trail in the country and it will accompany the migratory routes of birds", said Menezes.

In order to facilitate things, the national trails were divided into regional stretches that ought to last up to 20 days - a form of making them fit into people's vacation schedules, Menezes said. "That way, people will wrap things up with a sense of completion".

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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