Communities of slave descendants in Brazil demand recognition of territories

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — Zaqueu Belém Araújo cuts a leaf from an acai tree and skillfully folds and twists it, tying one end to the other to form a strong ring. He takes off his sandals, puts his bare feet into the palm ring and quickly pulls himself up the tree trunk to reach a branch of the coveted fruit.

This is how the acai berry has been harvested for generations in Brazilian quilombos, communities of descendents of runaway slaves. The minimally invasive technique doesn't hurt the trees and helps keep Amazon forests standing.

“We understand that keeping the forest alive also keeps us alive,” said Erica Monteiro, one of the about 500 residents of Itacoa Miri, a community of unpaved streets about 40 minutes away by boat from the sprawling city of Belem, where U.N. climate talks are being held.

Over the course of the climate conference, which began early this month and is scheduled to end on Friday, both residents of quilombos and Indigenous peoples have been pushing for the government to issue more land titles, which they see as key to defending their rights and protecting the ecosystems where they live.

While her mother grinds the acai berries freshly picked from the palm tree, Monteiro explains that this fruit is key in quilombos. It's an important source of food and, by preserving traditional harvesting and production techniques, they protect the lush forest that surrounds their communities.

“Our life is this struggle to ensure that the forest stays alive. Sometimes the price we pay is very high," she said.

Monteiro, a coordinator at Malungu, an association of quilombos in the state of Para, is one of the most prominent Afro-descendant leaders in the region. Her fight to protect their land from illegal logging and land invasion for cattle ranching and soybean farming has meant threatening phone calls, attempts of extortion and intimidation.

That’s why her community fought for years to achieve what few Afro-descendants in Brazil manage to do: obtain a document recognizing their ownership of their land.

There’s almost 2,500 quilombos in the Brazilian Amazon, but only 632 have been officially mapped by federal government institutes, according to a recent study by the National Coordination of Rural Black Communities, an association of quilombolas communities.

“If you can’t prove that the land belongs to the community, agribusiness ends up doing what we call in Brazil ‘grilling,’ which is forging false documentation in their favor,” Monteiro said.

Through Malungu, Monteiro helps other quilombos in the lengthy and costly process to obtain land titles so that others can benefit as they did more than 20 years ago when they got theirs.

Since then, her community received philanthropy funding from the Ford Foundation and the Climate and Land Use Alliance (The Associated Press receives funding for climate journalism from CLUA). The support is evident in Itacoa Miri: They have a health center and a school. There is electricity and running water.

The situation is very different in the quilombo of Menino Jesus, not far from Itacoa Miri. They only received their land title in November last year and it was for less than half of the territory they claimed, according to local resident Fabio Nogueira.

About 500 meters (550 yards) from his humble brick house, a company called Revita has been trying to set up a landfill that, according to Nogueira, threatens to contaminate the area’s aquifers, on which they depend on for fishing and daily life. Revita didn't respond to an email seeking comment and there was no answer at the phone number listed for their headquarters.

“Our fear is that both the springs there (in the area where the landfill is planned) and the water in our wells will be polluted by the leachate produced by the waste,” said Nogueira, vice president of the Menino Jesus territory association.

He and his community have been fighting the landfill for years, saying they were never consulted. The Public Defender’s Office has filed a lawsuit on their behalf in the State Court of Justice, but so far it hasn't been granted.

“We feel powerless," he said. "We are afraid that we will no longer be able to survive here because of the smell and the contamination that will come after.”

The Menino Jesus community is demanding title deeds to the entire 2,160 hectares (around 5,340 acres) of land that they claim has belonged to their inhabitants for generations. So far, only 640 hectares (about 1,580 acres) have been recognized as theirs.

“A definitive title gives us legal assurance that this land belongs to the community and that other people cannot take possession of it,” Nogueira said.

He believes that if these territories are officially recognized, the forests full of chestnut and acai trees will remain standing.

That's why Monteiro, from the community of Itacoa Miri, believes the Brazilian government needs to pay attention to Afro-descendant communities and recognize the ownership of all quilombos in Brazil.

She says communities like hers should also be paid, both by Brazil and other countries, to keep the forest standing. One of the biggest announcements to come out of COP30, set to end this week, has been the establishment of a fund to pay to keep trees standing. Monteiro says she is skeptical, as other funds to preserve forests haven't reached her community.

“We are doing what the world should be doing, which is preserving the forest,” Monteiro said. “And we are paying a very high price that many countries don't want to pay.”

Follow Teresa de Miguel on X at @tdemigueles

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A boy waits for a boat at the harbor in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Trees surround the Guama River in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A girl plays in a park in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Trees surround the area of a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Riquelme listens to his grandpa Edson Coelho during a tour of a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Edson Coelho broke a palm leaf to show as he makes a tool to be use to climb an acai tree at a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A proposed landfill, front, is visible near a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Adria poses for a photo with her little mascot at the backyard of her home in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A man places sacks with acai at the port tarmac in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A man carries a charcoal sack to the harbor in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, to be sent for sale in Belem. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Riquelme plays in the backyard of his home at a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus, in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A man carries a charcoal sack to the harbor in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, to be shipped for sale in Belem. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A girl stands next to her father in a grocery shop in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A house is visible in the jungle at a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Alf picks up berries of acai outside of his home in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Alf removes berries of acai outside of his home in Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

A small boat crosses a river approaching Itacoa Miri, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Houses at a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus, are visible in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Riquelme climbs an acai palm at a quilombola, an Afro-descendant community called Menino Jesus in Acara, Brazil, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Launch preparations have begun for the Artemis II mission, NASA’s planned lunar fly-around by four astronauts that will be the first moon trip in 53 years.

Tensions were high as hydrogen fuel started flowing into the rocket hours ahead of the planned launch. Dangerous hydrogen leaks erupted during a countdown test earlier this year, forcing a lengthy flight delay.

The launch team needs to load more than 700,000 gallons of fuel (2.6 million liters) into the 32-story Space Launch System rocket on the pad before the Artemis II crew can board.

The 32-story Space Launch System rocket is poised to blast off Wednesday evening with a two-hour launch window beginning at 6:24 p.m. EDT at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Artemis astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will be on board. They’ll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. No circling around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk — just a quick out-and-back lasting less than 10 days. NASA promises more boot prints in the gray lunar dust, but not before a couple practice missions.

Unlike the Apollo missions that sent astronauts to the moonfrom 1968 through 1972, Artemis’ debut crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian citizen.

Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA’s grand plans for a permanent moon base. The space program is aiming for a moon landing near the lunar south pole in 2028.

The Latest:

The wind is picking up at Cape Canaveral, more clouds are appearing and rain is expected in about two hours. But there is no lightning threat, NASA says, and there’s still an 80% chance the weather will be good enough to launch.

L-minus tracks the overall time to liftoff, counting down the days, hours and minutes away before the planned blastoff. It doesn’t include built-in holds, or pauses — that’s T-minus time.

The T-minus countdown in the final 10 minutes is where nerves tense up and hearts start pounding. Automated software kicks off a series of highly choreographed milestones. During this period, the clock can be stopped if a problem is spotted and restarted if it’s fixed in time.

T-0 is the moment of liftoff — zero — when the boosters ignite and the rocket begins its journey.

NASA has a narrow time frame each month to fly to the moon.

The Earth and moon must be aligned just so to achieve the proper trajectory for the mission. In any given month, there’s only about a week when Artemis II astronauts can lift off.

The Orion capsule needs to get a check of its life-support and other systems in near-Earth orbit. If that goes well, Orion will fire its main engine to hurtle toward the moon, taking advantage of the moon and Earth’s gravity to get there and back in a slingshot maneuver that requires little if any fuel.

Orion also needs sunlight for power and can’t be in darkness for more than 90 minutes at a time. Plus NASA wants to minimize heating during reentry at flight’s end.

The latest launch window runs through April 6. The next opportunity opens on April 30.

The hydrogen tank of the rocket’s core stage is 100% filled. NASA said no significant leaks have been observed so far in fueling. It was hydrogen leaks that prevented the rocket from flying in February.

The alarm clocks just went off in Kennedy Space Center’s crew quarters.

That means it’s rise and shine for the three Americans and one Canadian who are about to become the first lunar visitors in more than 53 years.

They have a long day ahead of them, whether they launch or not.

After breakfast, they’ll start suiting up. NASA’s launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. and lasts a full two hours.

Launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson is wearing green as are many of the controllers alongside her in the firing room.

Green represents “go” for NASA, a color symbolizing good luck.

The team is monitoring the fueling of the 322-foot moon rocket, set to blast off Wednesday evening.

A plush toy named Rise will ride with the Artemis II astronauts around the moon, carrying the names of more than 5.6 million people.

Rise is what’s known as a zero gravity indicator, which gives the astronauts a visual cue of when they reach space.

The design was inspired by the iconic “Earthrise” photo during Apollo 8, showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968.

Rise was selected from more than 2,600 contest submissions. It was designed by Lucas Ye of California.

Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew tucked a small memory card into Rise before the toy was loaded into the Orion capsule. The card bears the names of all those who signed up with NASA to vicariously tag along on the nearly 10-day journey.

“Zipping that little pocket on the bottom of Rise was kind of the moment that put it all together for me,” Wiseman said. “We are going for all and by all. It’s time to fly.”

NASA is fueling the new rocket that will send four astronauts to the moon.

Launch teams have begun pumping more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Space Launch System rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It’s the latest milestone in the two-day countdown that kicked off on Monday when launch controllers reported to duty.

It will take at least four hours to fully load the rocket before astronauts climb aboard for humanity’s first flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

The two-hour launch window opens at 6:24 p.m. EDT.

▶ Read more about Apollo vs. Artemis

The Americans who blazed the trail to the moon more than half a century ago were white men chosen for their military test pilot experience.

The Artemis II crew includes a woman, a person of color and a Canadian, products of a more diversified astronaut corps.

▶ Read more about Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of planned liftoff Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NASA's Artermis II moon rocket sits on Launch Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center hours ahead of a planned launch attempt Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Photographers set up remote cameras near NASA's Artermis II moon rocket on Launch Pad 39-B just before sunrise at the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)