BOOK OVERVIEW
In Brazil, the concept of restinga has acquired a
more elastic sense than that of the United States. Both,
a sand strip linking two consolidated points as well as a
sand deposit near the shore are called restinga. From a po-
etic point of view, there are many restingas inside one. It
is just necessary to change the perspective. Some prefer
to study the lagoons, others prefer to study plant species
or fauna. There are those who are interested in the history
of the space occupation or in the culture of those born in
restinga. Hence, the title of this book: “PARALLEL RESTIN-
GA”, because looking from this perspective, there are sev-
eral restingas inside one, all full of detailed richness.
The first chapter, “Northern Fluminense Restin-
gas from the Sixteenth to the Twenty-first Century”, will
address the view of two northern Fluminense restingas,
through the surveying of written documents, maps, naviga-
tor drawings, travelers’ records and chroniclers of the co-
lonial period. This chapter also gathers the impressions of
European and Brazilian naturalists who have gone through
the restingas and reports and projects from work of gov-
ernmental and private agencies. The previous conclusion
is that Restingas were greatly transformed by human ac-
tion at the same time that the knowledge about them also
increased, as well as the measures taken to protect their
ecosystems.
The second chapter “Restinga Voices” addresses
the socio-cultural formation of the northern Fluminense
restingas. According to Gabriel Soares de Souza, writing in
the second half of the sixteenth century, the first attempt
of Portuguese colonization of the northern Fluminense
occurred at the northern restinga, near the mouth of the
Paraíba do Sul River. This attempt was unsuccessful. A
line of historiography supports that the continuous coloni-
zation of the region was made by fishermen coming from
Cabo Frio, in 1622, who settled where the city of Atafona
is currently located and founded São João da Barra. The
Southern restinga, that starts in Barra do Furado and ex-
tends until Macaé, was superficially occupied. Its lagoons
and native vegetation were protected by nature itself, al-
though a route with intense movement towards Rio de Ja-
neiro passed through it. With the exception of Macaé, no
expressive urban nucleus has been developed around this
restinga, because Macaé expanded on the left bank of the
river that has the same name of the city.In Chapter 3, “Hidden Inhabitants of Restinga
plants”, we show much more than the sands, plants and
landscape of restingas. We approach a historical trajec-
tory of the relation of man with fungi, bringing to the or-
dinary people, outside the academy, the knowledge about
these organisms that live intimately among us. The impor-
tance that they exert on man and in the environment does
not exclude Restinga as the main stage. This ecosystem
is an inexhaustible repository of fungi that live within the
plants, unnoticed, and not yet known. This chapter brings
to the population, in a practical language, what the organ-
isms of the Kingdom Fungi represent, what is their relation
and their importance to the plants of restinga, their appli-
cations for man, and the immense spring constituted by
these areas near the sea.In chapter 4, “Art in Diversity”, we strive to impress
the book readers with macro photographs of more than 30
different species of fungi obtained from restinga plants.
Since they are invisible to the naked eye, they can only be
seen after cultivation and photographed with special lens;
special , as well, is the pleasure of enjoying them.The characteristics of each species are striking
and are converted into images that suggest abstract vi-
sual levels, creating an art not yet appreciated outside the
specific academic environment. Thus, it is intended to take
the reader into the knowledge and the artistic appreciation
of the work. These fungi, besides offering the promise of
the discovery of new substances with proven therapeutic
values, show an inexpressible beauty. They represent true
works of art that any observer would find difficult to translate
into words.The authors