Birdwatching on our Farm in Brazil – an interview with Jean Paul

Jean Paul is 57 years old and lives in the Netherlands. In addition to being a consultant, he is a tour guide and bird watching specialist who travels around the world at least 3 times a year. Jean Paul had already visited Rio de Janeiro on other occasions, but for other purposes. This time, he came with the objective of seeing and catalogging the enormous biodiversity that we have here in the region.

In the interview, Jean talks about what brought him back to Brazil, an online social network called iNaturalist, in which people share photos and information about biodiversity from various locations to help each other learn about nature. He says he was intrigued to discover that iNaturalist works very well in Europe and the United States, but in Brazil, more observations are needed to make the program work. So he decided to come here and start a project to develop the catalog for the region; you can see the project and photographs here.

When we asked him what made him choose Eco Caminhos as the location for this experience, he says that at first, he looked for a place close to Pico da Caledônia, one of the highest mountains in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Due to the existence of a huge variety of vegetation, many water springs, and the presence of wild animals, an area of environmental protection was created in its surroundings by the municipality of Nova Friburgo, known as APA do Caledônia. Eco Caminhos is merely 10 km (6.2 miles) from this area and by contacting us, Jean realized that this was the ideal place for this experience.

Rio de Janeiro is considered to be the city with the largest number of bird species in the world. The farm’s surrounding areas, located in Nova Friburgo, have a similarly rich biodiversity. Just watch! Experts point out that the state of Rio is privileged and, despite its small territory, the state has 730 of the more than 1,919 species registered in Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee. The country is second in the world in avifauna, only behind Colombia.

We are a self-sustaining eco-farm, located in a region of stunning Atlantic Forest mountains in Nova Friburgo in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Without a doubt, we can provide an incredible experience not only for bird lovers but for all nature lovers! Come and have an Eco Experience with us!

Check out our interview video: