Rio Botanical Garden promotes Caatinga Week from April 26 to 29

The only exclusively Brazilian biome, the Caatinga Biome will be the subject of special activities organized by the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden to celebrate its biological and cultural richness. From April 26 to 29, the public will be able to take part in a guided tour, soiree, exhibition, storytelling and cordel making.

Check out the program:

. Guided tour of the Cactarium
Day: April 26 (Saturday)
Time: 2pm
Location: Cactarium
The visit will be guided by the curator, Thiago Favares, with a focus on species native to the Caatinga. During the tour of the cultivation complex, the main adaptations of these plants to the semi-arid environment will be presented, as well as the challenges involved in their cultivation and conservation outside their natural habitat. To take part, you need to register by e-mailing cvis@jbrj.gov.br or calling (21) 3874-1808 / 1214.
. Planting stories: umbuzeiro
Day: 26/4 (Saturday)
Times: 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Location: Botanical Garden Museum
The umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa), the sacred tree of the Caatinga, is the protagonist of this storytelling, which mixes literature and art to raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity. Participants will be invited to reflect on the biome, its species and the relationship between culture and nature.

. Sarau da Caatinga: poetry, medicinal and food plants on string
Day: 28/4 (Monday)
Times: 9.30 a.m. to 12 noon and 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Target audience: children and young people
Location: Medicinal Plants Thematic Collection
Sarau with string poetry about food and medicinal plants from the Caatinga biome. Visitors will learn about medicinal and food plants and their relationship with the Caatinga, the plant families and how they survive the biome's climate. They will also learn about the food and medicinal plants found in the arboretum. In addition, they will prepare a booklet with poetry and take part in an interactive game.

. Endangered plants and where they live
Days: 28 and 29/4 (Monday and Tuesday)
Times: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Botanical Garden Museum
Exhibition of work carried out by CNCFlora/JBRJ, accompanied by an interactive memory game. Materials already published by the Center, such as red books, and a panel containing the most up-to-date data on species assessed and threatened in the biome will be presented. Instruments used in the collection and study of botanical specimens, such as tweezers, loppers and exsiccates, will also be on display. The public will have access to information on the extinction risk assessment flow, as well as detailed factsheets on threatened species in the Caatinga.

. Caatinga in focus: botanical discoveries from Jabot
Days 28 and 29/4 (Monday and Tuesday)
Time: from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Botanical Garden Museum
The activity invites the public to get to know the Caatinga through the rich botanical collections of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. Through the Jabot system - a digital repository of scientific data on plants - the public can explore records, images and information on the Caatinga species that are part of the institution's herbarium collection. Jabot is a powerful tool for managing botanical collections, bringing together data from specimens collected in the field, grown in gardens and analyzed in laboratories. The activity proposes a journey through the plant diversity of the Caatinga, highlighting endemic, threatened and ecologically and culturally important species.

. Cordel making using the isopography technique (woodcut on Styrofoam)
Dates: 28 and 29/4 (Monday and Tuesday)
Times: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Target audience: 4 to 12 year olds
Location: Environmental Education Service
Native species representative of the biome will be used to illustrate and compose the work, as well as interactive games on the subject and the distribution of booklets to participants. To take part, you need to register by e-mailing educativo@jbrj.gov.br