A reserve born from a change of life
The Reserva do Tico-tico is a Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) and wildlife-keeping facility in Pedra Dourada, in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais, Brazil — founded by someone who chose to leave an international career to care for individuals with special needs.
About us
What the reserve is — and what it isn't
The Reserva do Tico-tico takes in, rehabilitates, and returns to the wild the animals that can go back — parrots, songbirds, armadillos, and snakes have all been released. The permanent residents are the ones that cannot: they carry physical or behavioural injuries, many caused by years of captivity or abuse, that make release unviable or cruel. For them the work is different — making sure they live out their lives safely, under proper technical care, and without the kind of contact that reproduces the pet-keeping imaginary that put them there in the first place.
An Atlantic Forest fragment in a state that was once 38% forest
About us
The reserve covers 6.19 hectares within a roughly 340-hectare fragment of semi-deciduous seasonal forest, with 7 natural springs — four of which form a lake. The land is divided into two zones: untouched preservation, where the springs are, and conservation, managed as syntropic agroforestry. It borders the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park and Caparaó National Park, and sits within the UNESCO-recognized Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve. Atlantic Forest once covered about 38% of Minas Gerais state; less than 3% of that original cover remains today. The rufous-collared sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis, known locally as tico-tico), for which the reserve is named, is documented among the fragment's bird species.
Where the reserve is
The RPPN’s 6.19 hectares sit inside a fragment of roughly 340 hectares of semideciduous seasonal forest, in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais. The reserve neighbours the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park — home to the largest continuous patch of primary forest left in Minas Gerais — and the Caparaó National Park, and falls within the UNESCO-recognised Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve.
Work recognized by the authorities that oversee it
The reserve operates in coordination with veterinarians and environmental agents — the same network that enables rescues, transfers, and the technical oversight required under its wildlife management authorization. That same institutional relationship has allowed the association to raise and report on funds from Brazil's Federal and State Public Prosecutor's Offices.
About us
From five countries at Four Seasons to an Atlantic Forest fragment
Wdson Brum built an international career with the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts group, living in countries including Russia, France, Spain, Mexico, and the United States, before leaving it all behind in 2018 to dedicate himself to conserving the Atlantic Forest and its wildlife. Today he is the only person caring, full-time, for the reserve's 33 permanent residents — without drawing a salary.
The Reserva do Tico-tico began as an authorized wildlife-keeping facility and, in 2024, received formal recognition as an RPPN — a Private Natural Heritage Reserve — permanently recorded on the property's land title.
