Lélia Bárbara Doumit

Associação Onçafari was set up to promote environmental conservation and contribute to socio-economic development through ecotourism and scientific research. Today, our work aims at conserving biodiversity in various Brazilian biomes with an emphasis on jaguars and maned wolves. Onçafari Ecotourism works to habituate wild animals such as jaguars and maned wolves to the presence of vehicles. When the animals no longer see researchers and visitors as a threat, they become indifferent to the presence of vehicles, favouring the growth of ecotourism in the region. "Habituating animals"​ does not mean domesticating them, but rather leaving them completely wild and free without feeling threatened by the presence of vehicles. Onçafari Science’s objective is to monitor and evaluate the animals’ behaviour when faced with tourist activities. In addition, it evaluates the animals’ state of health and studies the ecology and physiology of both the jaguar and maned wolf, thus contributing to advancing scientific knowledge of the species and improving their protection. Onçafari Rewild, in partnership with Cenap (National Research Center for Carnivore Conservation) / ICMBio, works to reintroduce jaguars into the wild. An important tool to re-establish populations threatened with extinction. Onçafari Social interacts directly with the local communities amongst which our projects operate. Onçafari Education’s objective is to raise local population awareness of the importance of conserving biodiversity through lectures, field activities, documentaries and events. Onçafari Forests’ objective is to conserve areas of ecological interest.