while access to the ilha da marambaia is restricted, there are communities of people living on it.   one of the first owners of this island was joaquim josé de sousa breves, 'the king of coffee' - a powerful land owner, who had 25 coffee farms and 6000 slaves.

he used the marambaia to allow the slaves recover after the long trip across the ocean, before distributing them among his farms. after his death, many of the slaves remained on the island as free men and women and built a village, since the law that abolished slavery took effect in 1888, one year before joaquim josé's passing in 1889.