The Municipality of Alcântara is located in the northern mesoregion of Maranhão and has an estimated population of 22,126 inhabitants. Initially inhabited by Tupinambá people, the Alcântara region was colonized between the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th by the French, soon expelled by the Portuguese.

Dominated by masters of enslaved people, mills, and plantations, in the mid-18th century, Alcântara was considered the most prosperous village in this region of the Legal Amazon. However, with the collapse of cotton and sugar cane mills, religious orders and wealthy producers abandoned huge areas or handed them over to residents, aggregates, and detribalized Amerindians. Formerly enslaved people – freedmen or Quilombolas – also remained on the land. The Quilombolas are descendants of enslaved people, trafficked from the African continent for more than three centuries, who formed groups of refuge and resistance. In 1982, the construction of the Alcântara Rocket Launch Center (CLA) compulsorily removed 312 Quilombola families who lived by the sea.

In the community of Itamatatiua, the vast majority of residents see themselves as traditional swidden farmers. Still, they also carry out other activities, such as fishing, raising small animals, extracting babassu, and making ceramic pieces. These ceramics are sold to tourists who visit the region and are manufactured by an association led by women; the Associação de Mulheres do Povoado Itamatatiua.

The urban center of Alcântara has been directly impacted by the erosion of the “Slopes of Alcântara,” putting the listed historical heritage at risk. Planting mangroves at the base of the slope minimizes erosion from large tides.

The Territory of Itamatatiua has a rich water heritage with several rivers and streams that cut through the territory. Due to deforestation and damming, some segments of these streams are degraded.