In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin arrived in Brazil in 1832, and began documenting the enormous biodiversity of therainforest of Rio de Janeiro province.
In his diary, he mentions parasite plants like the lianas and bromeliads that hang from trees. After observing the differences between mockingbirds on the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere inLatin America, the scientist began to develop his Theory of Evolution. His work would change the way most people think about nature and the origins of humans.
Now two hundred years after his birth, a great-great-grandson of Darwin is retracing his steps in Brazil. The expedition organized by Rio’s Federal University visited twelve municipalities inRio de Janeiro state, inaugurating signs along the path of Darwin’s voyage.
At one of the first stops, visitors were treated to a performance of capoeira, a combination of dance and martial-art-style fighting. On many occasions, Darwin writes about the cruelties ofslavery, which was only abolished in Brazil in 1888.
‘This experience of the reality of slavery, motivated him to include this critical notion of the importance of understanding how other people are feeling, and if they are suffering,understanding that suffering and trying to do what you can to minimize it. It made those feelings central to his theories throughout his life.’
It was in Rio de Janeiro that Darwin encountered the great biodiversity of the tropical forest. In his autobiography Darwin wrote that “the glories of the vegetation of the tropics risebefore my mind more vividly than anything else” .
‘His arrival in Brazil had a great impact on him when he saw the diversity of Brazilian flora and fauna. So issues he already had in his mind and previous readings about the origin of speciesbecame much more real.’
However much of the forest that Darwin explored in Rio no longer exists due to illegal logging and forest destruction. It is estimated that of the Atlantic rainforest that Darwin knew, lessthan 10%remains.
