Fertile Land, Creative Communities
newspaper Reservas da Biosfera · 01/03/2022
Príncipe Island
Harmony between people and the territory
The nature of Príncipe Island is as lush as it is vulnerable. This fertility of the environment is also reflected in the culture. It is a symbiotic reality that is worth knowing and valuing, because the future will depend on conserving this heritage in the present.
Obô Natural Park. March 2022, Príncipe Island.
Caring and valuing
Biosphere Reserve of Príncipe Island
Príncipe has been part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2012. The Biosphere Reserve of Príncipe Island covers all of its land and sea area, including the Obô Natural Park (2006), which represents more than 50% of the island’s surface.
“These two worlds are intrinsically linked, one complements the other, one depends on the other for us to really make culture; how we make it and with the means we make it with; we depend on nature, on our environment.”
Ana Alice Prazeres
Príncipe Island’s application document for Biosphere Reserve status (2012) identifies 450 species of flora (24 of them endemic), 28 birds, 13 reptiles and 3 amphibians that are native to the island. The sea has 355 species of fish, 11 species of cetaceans, 5 of turtles, 28 of molluscs and many corals, crustaceans, among others.
From mangroves to tropical rainforest, Príncipe’s ecosystems are still a place where new species are discovered every year, which shows the fragility of the island’s nature and the absolute need to preserve it.
Besides the effort to conserve sea turtles, the Biosphere Reserve has promoted the restoration of mangrove habitats and the protection of endemic bird and plant species.
Controlling tree felling and subsequent reforestation, raising awareness of respect for the beach sand, and the collection and processing of solid and organic waste and the reduction of plastic use have also contributed to improving environmental quality and open up new sustainable business opportunities for the population.
Lunguyê, which was at risk of being forgotten, has become a compulsory subject in schools on the Regional Government’s initiative. It is also passed on through music and dance.
There are various cultural groups that seek to maintain or recover Príncipe’s traditions, in order to conserve its cultural heritage.
Memories of Príncipe Island
In 2022, the project Ser Principense: art, culture and heritage, past, present and future sought to value the perception of the heritage of Príncipe Island (São Tomé and Príncipe), understanding its inseparability from the territory and the communities that live in it.
Interview with Pedro Pernambuco. 15 March 2022, Porto Real, Príncipe Island.
Seeking to give a voice to the people of Príncipe, more than 40 interviews were carried out, aimed at identifying and characterising Príncipe’s cultural and natural heritage, looking, from a historical perspective, at the past and the present, promoting the appreciation of its knowledge and its preservation for the future. The activities of various dance, theatre and music groups were recorded, as well as objects and documents related to these and other practices, in a process that involved around 90 people, including interviewees, group participants and the project team.
The project Ser Principense: art, culture and heritage, past, present and future was promoted by the Biosphere Reserve of Príncipe Island, in partnership with the Regional Directorate for Tourism, Trade, Industry and Culture, the Efrican Foundation and the Memória para Todos® programme of History, Territories and Communities at NOVA FCSH – Centre for Functional Ecology – Science for People and the Planet (CFE-UC), and funded by the ACP-EU CULTURE programme.