Exploration Talk: On the footsteps of forgotten naturalists

On the footsteps of forgotten naturalists: retracing Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira "Philosophical Expedition" in Brazil (1783-1792)

In the late eighteenth century a team of naturalist left Lisbon to endure a ten years expedition in Brazil. This expedition became known as the "Philosophical Expedition" and for almost 10 years it explored the largest South American rivers in an atempt to descrive and catalog the then unknown biodiversity and meet the indigenous tribes that lived in the area.

Led by the Portuguese-Brazilian explorer Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira, the expedition travelled more than 40.000 km through river and jungles.

The expedition was a sucess, but its aftermath was not. After the return to Portugal, the team was never able to properly study the collections amassed during the expedition and its results were never published. The collections of the Philosophical Expedition raises the interest of many European powers, and in 1807, French naturalists following the Napoleonic troops that invaded Portugal arrived in Lisbon to select and transport to Paris these collections. In Paris, some of the specimens were used by the most famous naturalists of the nineteenth century to describe some of the most iconic animals of the Amazon.

After more than two decades, Ferreira's collections, which include diaries, watercolors, reports and hundreds of natural history specimens, are scaterred across institutions in Brazil, Portugal and France, and the overall results and impact of this expedition to modern science and our knowledge of the natural world remain to be fully explored.

In the last 15 years Luís has been tracing all of these specimens, documents and watercolors, as well as revisiting the most important localities of these expedition. His current project wants to reclaim Ferreira's well deserved place amongst the gallery of the most important explorers of his time and rescue the data and knowledge that has been lost to science. Following the footsteps of Ferreira through the Amazon basin and the backstage of museums we will be able to better understand our relationship with the natural world, the ways of knowning biodiversity, and, above all, celebrate the spirit of curiosity and exploration that has inspired naturalist and explorers until today.

Join The Explorers Club Portugal Chapter on this wonderful journey through time!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Heden Rossio, 17 Largo do Duque de Cadaval, Lisboa, Portugal