The strong sun and the thermometers marking almost 35˚C announced another very hot day in the small town of Santana do Cariri, in the semi-arid region of Ceará. There were few people on the streets, a food market with three stalls and a few cars parked in the city’s main square, where replica dinosaurs kept dogs company in search of shade.
In the municipality of almost 18 thousand inhabitants, prehistoric animals are not unknown to the population, which is already familiar with the stories of people who come from outside, interested in these relics preserved in the rocks.
A highlight for the region is the Plácido Cidade Nuvens Museum of Paleontology, which has two floors where an exhibition of the main fossils found there, a room for preparation, one for the production of replicas, a small shop —disabled— and a library are housed, in addition to of a pantry, two bathrooms and an administrative room.
The museum also has a collection containing about 9,000 pieces — fossils of plants, insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and other organisms. Stored in wooden drawers, many of the fossils were displayed on tables and still awaiting incorporation into the scientific collection.
The holotypes —specimens that designate a species— are kept, but the storage conditions are precarious, and the room lacks refrigeration, which is essential for preservation.
In the study and preparation rooms, there are no computers, magnifying glasses or even good quality chairs so that students from Urca (Universidade Regional do Cariri) or visitors from other research institutions can do their studies.
At the time of the report’s visit, the bathrooms had doors with broken latches and there was even a lack of toilet paper.
The precarious condition of the museum reflects on the region itself. The main economic activity of Santana do Cariri, as well as the neighboring municipalities of Nova Olinda and Barbalha, is the extraction of stones for the production of floors and furniture.
In general, workers are paid for the square footage of stone cut—the more 50 cm by 50 cm stones prepared, the higher the pay. Only recently have minimum wages begun to be paid to some employees, who spoke with the reporter on condition of anonymity, for fear of suffering reprisals.
The low wages and precarious conditions of the craft end up stimulating the supply of fossil parts that miners find in exchange for money.
In addition to the situation in the mines, tourism in the region, which could be strongly encouraged thanks to the Araripe Geopark —created in 2006 and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site—, is still not valued.
Recently, an initiative by Funcap (Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) together with the Government of the State of Ceará launched a public notice for the contracting of ten visiting researcher grants to investigate the Araripe fossils and help with paleontological knowledge, including in the curatorship of the museum’s fossil collection.
The initial investment in the project is R$ 2.16 million, with a forecast for two years and the possibility of extension.
According to a strategic plan by Geopark Araripe, launched in 2017, the museum will receive a store for the sale of regional products, the rent of space and auditorium at the Geopark headquarters, which is located in Urca, in Crato (CE), and an initiative aimed directly at the specialization in sustainable tourism and regional development, with 5% of the collection destined for the park.
In addition, the museum has an annual budget passed by the university, which varies each year, according to the state transfer to universities. The report asked the government of Ceará and Funcap (Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico) for the amount transferred in recent years to the museum, but did not receive a response until publication.
