This spring, lush green trees from the banks of the Amazon River will flourish alongside the Hudson River; shamans may be seen on the subway; and third and sixth grade students will be transported to the heart of the rainforests without leaving their classrooms. Amazônia Brasil, a citywide event of exhibits and workshops that seeks to bring models of sustainable living from the Amazon and present a contemporary vision of the region, will take place from April 17 to July 13.

The project aims to help bring attention to the Brazilian Amazon, which spans more than two million square miles yet has been drastically affected by deforestation, and the part it will play in regulating the earth’s climate.

Amazônia Brasil’s main exhibit will be a 13,000-square-foot recreation of the Amazon, where visitors can experience firsthand the sights, sounds and wonders of life in the Brazilian Amazon including its biodiversity, people, villages and cities. Visitors will be able to interact directly with communities living in the heart of the forest via the Internet, and meet shamans and artisans from the region in person.

Other exhibits will include a photography exhibition of the wildlife and indigenous people of the Amazon by renowned São Paolo photographer Rodrigo Petrella; a showcase of films produced by indigenous video-makers from the Brazilian Amazon, and a fashion and design exhibition featuring work by Brazilian designers using sustainable materials.

"Amazônia Brasil has a magic which transports visitors inside the forest," said Dr. Eugênio Scannavino Netto, Amazônia Brasil's co-creator and founder of the Health and Happiness Project, a non-governmental organization that builds sustainable economies in the Brazilian Amazon. "When the world begins to understand the Amazon, we all can help sustain it and learn how to live in a more sustainable way."