When Júlio de Castro began beekeeping in 1986, he never imagined he and his family would one day own the 500 hives they maintain today, producing up to 10 metric tons of honey per year. Castro lives in the rural Afro-Brazilian community, or quilombo, of Lagoas and is a member of Mel do Sertão, a […]
  • In northern Brazil’s Piauí state, the vast Afro-Brazilian enclave of Lagoas is home to 119 communities, making it the largest of its kind in the semiarid Caatinga biome and one of the region’s largest producers of organic honey.
  • In 2019, the mining company SRN Mineração obtained a temporary permit to prospect for iron ore in the region, posing a threat to the communities’ beekeeping livelihoods as it could contaminate or destroy the bees’ food sources.
  • Community leaders say they weren’t consulted by the mining company and that it continues to disrespect their presence and traditions by prospecting less than 100 meters (330 feet) from their most important shrine.