In Pictures

In Pictures: Brazil’s ‘sand people’

Leaders meet in Rio for a conference on the environment, while others learn to live with the reality of climate change.

Huts off in the distance where people used to live are seen in Lencois Maranhenses National Park, which is nearly 300 square kilometres.

By Gabriel Elizondo

In one of the most unforgiving yet spectacular landscapes of an area in northeast Brazil called Lencois Maranhenses, a small group of around 100 families lives off the land in a sustainable manner.

A home that was abandoned after being covered by the sand dunes.

Advertisement

A solar panel on the roof of the house of the Santos family is their only source of electricity.

Fishing here is done in a traditional manner by dragging nets through the river by hand.

At night, the home of Cleidy and Claudio Santos has electricity from one solar panel.

The Santos family going to fish in the afternoon.

Fishing nets hang from a hut, an indication of how important fishing is for the people who live here.

Advertisement

sand — Here the sand dunes push right up to the water, and families pull nets to fish.

Maria Julia Martins, left, and Antonio Martin Vieira, at rear, say they live on the sane dunes and fish because they can(***)t afford to live in a city.

At night, when it cool, animals like frogs come out on the dunes.

Marinalda Pereira, in purple top, says the lack of rain this season has dried up lagoons where they used to fish.

Many of the community elders also go fish each day with their kids.

Families that live on the dunes raise animals to eat.

Most of the people have horses, which they use as a means of transportation.

The residents of the sand dunes are resilient people who have survived tough conditions.