Eco-tourism in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil

Fig. 1.1

Facts about the Fernando de Noronha archipelago

o Made up of 21 small islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean

oOff the Northeast shore of Brazil

oMain Island has an area of 18.4 square kilometers (Fernando de Noronha)

oPopulation: 3,108 (est. 2009) Fig. 1.2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gujlx9eFUTs

Tourism Development

• Began in the 1970s with little supporting infrastructure

• The only hotel on the island is a converted United States airbase from World War II

• Total number of tourist allowed on the island at a time is 420

• Visitors must pay a daily environment tax

Tourist activates on the island

• Has two of the best beaches in Brazil • Known for scuba diving • great surfing • Eco-trails • Cultural History • the Remédios village

Economic

• Local economy is based on tourism• Visiting one of the protected islands requires

special authorization for local environmental authorities and a small environmental preservation fee is charged upon the tourists arrival

Environmental

• Vegetation on Fernando de Noronha is mainly bush • In 1988 70% of the archipelago was declared a

maritime national park protected by IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute for the Environment)

• In 2001 became a UNESCO world heritage site• Wildlife is a major attraction, home to 15 endemic

plant species, 2 birds and 2 reptiles • Also large colonies of seabirds, dolphins and sea

turtles

Sources

• http://www.happytellus.com/fernando-de-noronha/brazil• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_de_Noronha• Fig. 1.1:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Fernando_noronha

• Fig. 1.2: http://www.noronha.info/images/map_fernando_de_noronha.jpg

• http://www.fernando-de-noronha.org/history-archaeology/cultural-heritage.php

• http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Fernando_de_Noronha