Boitatá is the legend of a mythical fire serpent who scares away loggers who try to burn and cut down the forest. As we all know, this is a huge issue happening in the Amazon rainforest today. Much of the forest is being burned to create more farmland. This story is a good one to incorporate into a lesson about deforestation and it’s devastating effects. There are different versions of this story but, in general, it goes like this…

Once upon a time there was a beautiful forest. The animals were healthy and happy. One day, thick smoke covered the forest and thrust them into darkness. The sun didn’t come out and they couldn’t see the moon or the stars. Then, one day it began to rain and the forest flooded. People and animals were blind in the darkness and they left to seek refuge to higher ground. The serpent, who later becomes Boitatá, found refuge in a cave up in the mountains. He was there for a long time a eventually fell asleep. When he woke up, the waterline was falling and the sun was out but it was too bright for him to leave the cave. So, he stayed in the cave for many days. Overtime, his eyes absorbed the sunlight and light began to radiate from his skin. (In some versions, he eats eyeballs which contain “light” which is why he glows. Other versions, fireflies find him and give him their light.) He has now become Boitatá! He leaves the cave and finds the forest devastated from the flood. He and the forest animals, come together to rejuvenated the forest by planting plants and trees. In a few years time the forest is back to its healthy self. One day they discover loggers cutting down the forest and burning trees. The serpent became so angry at the men for destroying the forest and polluting the air, that the light inside Boitatá engulfed him and he became a fire serpent! Boitatá chased the men from the forest and promised that he would set any man on fire that tried to destroy the forest. From this day on Boitatá is known as the protector of the forest.