An ecological crime

Before the Portuguese, Sao Paulo had tropical forest, Cerrado and mini-Pantanal

Before the arrival of the Portuguese, those who walked a few kilometers through the territory of the current city of São Paulo could cross tropical forests with bromeliads, orchids and trees up to 45 meters high, closed fields with species of thick trunks and branches twisted, araucarias and typical bushes. the southern region and the river flood plains that resembled the Pantanal.

The extraordinary variety of native flora, made up in part by the indigenous peoples who inhabited the area and today confined to a few islands in the urban area, attracted an equally diverse set of animals to the region, including jaguars and toucans. green, black lion tamarins and red deer.

Using historical reports, studies by botanist Ricardo Cardim and etymological information, BBC Brazil produced an unprecedented map of the plant formations of São Paulo before colonization. The illustration, by the artist Leandro Lopes de Souza, seeks to recreate the contemplated landscape of the hill where, on January 25, 1554, the Jesuit priests celebrated the mass that went down in history as the act of founding the city.

According to Cardim, from that hill, at the confluence of the Tamanduateí and Anhangabaú rivers, there was "one of the best views in Brazil."

"São Paulo was an extraordinary place because there was precisely this contrast of fields, forests, productive rivers and a lot of hunting; it is no coincidence that the Indians chose to live here," says the researcher, who is finishing a book on the original vegetation of the city. .

In botanical language, São Paulo was an ecotone, that is, a meeting point for different biomes. Cardim says that there were stretches of the Atlantic forest in the city, characteristic vegetation of the Brazilian coast, mixed forests of araucaria, typical biome of the south and the Cerrado, predominant formation in the midwest.

He further claims that there were plants from the Pampa, a biome in Rio Grande do Sul, in the savannas of São Paulo, and that the flood plains of the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers, the largest in the city, resembled the Mato Grosso Pantanal.

The location of São Paulo, between the coast and the Brazilian central plateau and on the border between tropical and subtropical areas, favored the diversity of biomes. The variety of soils and the irregular topography also contributed (the difference between the highest point in the urbanized area of ​​the city, Vila Mariana, and the waters of Tietê reaches 109 meters, according to a study by geographer Aziz Ab'Sáber).

Formed by fires

When the first Portuguese explorers defeated Serra do Mar, they found three indigenous peoples, from the Tupiniquim people, in the future capital of São Paulo.

In Negros da terra: Indians and pioneers in the origins of São Paulo, the American historian John Manuel Monteiro says that the villages were not repaired: as the land became impoverished and the game became scarce, the communities looked for other areas.

According to botanist Ricardo Cardim, the successive fires, natural and caused by indigenous people, help explain the presence of savannas in the original landscape of São Paulo. The fire prevented the thickening of the vegetation and favored the survival of resistant trees, with thick trunks, typical of the biome.

Cardim says that the Indians resorted to fire to open openings for gardens, to corner animals in hunting or to renew the vegetation of the field. The new growth attracted herbivores, including deer, which were also hunted by groups.

The fires ate at the edges of the forests and left them in a circular shape, hence, according to the botanist, the name of the Capão Redondo neighborhood, in the southern part of the city. There were many other capons (from the Tupi Kaa'pãu, Mount IsIn the early 17th century, the local fauna still seemed to be well preserved. According to the researcher, residents were warned about the risks of walking on São Paulo's highways "because there were jaguars that ate people."

Several of them were said to live in the Serra da Cantareira and descended to the Tietê floodplain to hunt. There are reports of the presence of cats even in the region of the current Paulista avenue, then covered by a dense forest, called by the indigenous as caaguaçu (scrub, in Tupi). A section of the old forest gave rise to the Trianon Park, one of the rare places in the urban area that preserves the original vegetation.

Another area of ​​closed forest was in the Anhangabaú valley, in the current center of the city, where enslaved Indians used to seek refuge. Of this forest, nothing re

 From historical reports, studies by botanist Ricardo Cardim, and etymological information, BBC Brazil produced an unprecedented map for plant formation in São Paulo before colonization. The illustration, by the artist Leandro Lopes de Souza, seeks to recreate the landscape seen from the hill where, on January 25, 1554, the Jesuit priests celebrated the history that made history as the act of founding the city.

According to Cardim, from that hill, at the confluence of the Tamanduateí and Anhangabaú rivers, he lived "one of the best views in Brazil."

"São Paulo was an extraordinary place because it was precisely this contrast of fields, forests, productive rivers and a lot of hunting; it is not a coincidence that the indigenous people live here," says the researcher, who is finishing a book on the original vegetation of the city. . .

In botanical language, São Paulo was an ecotone, that is, a meeting point for different biomes. This is a given that inhabited the Atlantic forest in the city, characteristic vegetation on the Brazilian coast, mixed araucaria forests, a typical biome of the Cerrado and the Cerrado, a predominant formation in the western environment.

He also states that there were plants in the savannas of São Paulo in Pampa, a biome in Rio Grande do Sul, and that the alluvial currents of the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers, the largest in the city, resembled the Mato Grosso Pantanal.

The location of São Paulo, between the coast and the central plateau of Brazil and the border between the tropical and subtropical zones, favors the diversity of the biomes. The variety of soils and the irregular topography also contributed (the difference between the highest point in the urbanized area of ​​the city, Vila Mariana, and the waters of Tietê reaches 109 meters, according to a study by geographer Aziz Ab'Sáber).

Formed by fires

When the first Portuguese explorers defeated the Serra do Mar, they found three indigenous peoples in the future capital of São Paulo, the Tupiniquim people.

In Negroes de la tierra: Indians and pioneers in the origins of São Paulo, the American historian John Manuel Monteiro says that the villages have not been repaired: as their land became impoverished and gambling became scarce, communities looked for other areas.

According to botanist Ricardo Cardim, the successive fires, natural and caused by indigenous peoples, help explain the presence of savannas in the original landscape of São Paulo. The fuel prevented the growth of the vegetation and favored the survival of resistant trees, with thick trunks, typical of the biome.

The indigenous people used to open spaces for gardens, find animals in the park or renovate the vegetation of the field. The new growth attracts herbivores, including deer, which were also covered in groups.

According to botanist Ricardo Cardim, the successive fires, natural and caused by indigenous peoples, help explain the presence of savannas in the original landscape of São Paulo. The fuel prevented the growth of the vegetation and favored the survival of resistant trees, with thick trunks, typical of the biome.

I said that the indigenous people used to open spaces for gardens, find animals in the park or renovate the vegetation of the field. The new growth attracts herbivores, including deer, which were also covered in groups.

The fires started around the forest and went in a circular way, from there, according to the botanist, the name of the Capão Redondo neighborhood, around the city. There were many other capons (from Tupi Kaa'pãu, Mount Island) throughout the territory.

In the early 17th century, the local fauna still seemed to be well preserved. According to the researcher, residents were warned about the risks of walking in São Paulo's cars "because there were jaguars that ate with people."

It was decided that several of them lived in the Serra da Cantareira and descended to the Tietê alluvial vein for kaza. There are reports of the presence of cats included in the region of the current Paulista avenue, then covered through a dense forest, called by the indigenous people as caaguaçu (bush, in Tupi). A section of the ancient forest of the Trianon Park, one of the rare places in the urban area that preserves the original vegetation.

Another area of ​​closed forest was in the Anhangabaú valley, in the current center of the city, where enslaved Indians used to seek refuge. Nothing was left of this forest.

Cambucis and araucarias, which previously covered various parts of the city, also disappeared. The first species, common in the riparian forests of São Paulo, attracted tapirs to fruit and named a neighborhood in the central region.

The second, now restricted to the southern region and some mountain ranges in the southeast, extends through all the city's biomes. Resistant to light fires and important for feeding indigenous peoples, who consumed their seed, the pinion, the tree is the reason behind the name of the Pinheiros neighborhood.

Other addresses in São Paulo with names in Tupi give clues about the richness of native landscapes, according to Luiz Caldas Tibiriçá's Tupi-Portuguese dictionary (curiously, he was also called Tibiriçá, the head of the ancient Inhapuambuçu village, near the current Pateo do School).

Guarapiranga, where there is now a dam, comes from the union between guará (heron) and piranga (red), a probable reference to the species Eudocimus ruber. M'Boi Mirim, the current path on the south side, is a possible derivation of mboia mirim, a small snake.

Ibirapuera may come from the union of ybyrá, tree and puera, a suffix that indicates the past, something "that was" - possible mention of the pond with dry trunks (that were once trees) where the main park of the city was created, drained after planting. Australian eucalyptus.

Ipiranga, whose placid banks heard the echoing scream, is a red river, and which, like many other São Paulo waterways, was channeled as the city grew.

The biome of São Paulo most affected by urbanization was the Cerrado, which, according to Cardim, extended throughout much of the current city, including sections of the Ipiranga, Bela Vista, Luz, Butantã, Vila Mariana and the Congonhas airport.

The formation was described at the end of the 16th century by an ancestor of the botanist, who, although a priest, left heirs in Brazil, the Portuguese Jesuit Fernão Cardim. On a visit to the then town of Piratininga, an embryo of contemporary São Paulo, he compared the vegetation with that of his native country.

"It is a land of great fields and very similar to the site of Évora, in good grace, and to the field, which is full of cows, which is beautiful to see," he described in a letter to the ecclesiastical superior. "This land looks like a new Portugal", he concluded, delighted.

Today, according to botanist Cardim, the São Paulo savanna survives on only three strips of land in the west, two of them in Cidade Universitária and one in Jaguaré.

A good example of the original formation is found in the Parque Estadual do Juquery, in the neighboring municipality of Franco da Rocha. For Cardim, this is the "last embedded jewel (in the São Paulo metropolitan region) that preserves the perfect closure", where species such as pequizeiros, macaubas palms and muricis are found.

Cultural forest

Throughout São Paulo's development, native trees gave way not only to buildings, but also to exotic species. Today, according to Cardim, 90% of the city's plants are foreign.

"We are like those from Rio de Janeiro who walked a hundred years ago wearing a top hat and a fur coat on the beach because they wanted to be French. The Paulistano, in terms of landscaping and green areas, wants to be anything but Brazilian."

For this reason, says the botanist, even if São Paulo were left uninhabited and its buildings were demolished, it would never recover the original biomes.

He says that the old Cerrado areas would be suffocated by foreign grass and that there would be no more fires to maintain the balance of the biome.

Over time, he says, the city would be taken by a dense forest, "but not a natural Atlantic forest, but a cultural forest, which would reflect our choices as a society and serve as a record of our passage here."

João Fellet - @joaofelletDa BBC Brasil in Brasilia

https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-43148025