The purpose of this thesis is to compare and comprehend landscape transformation in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil through reconstruction of various hunting practices and motivations in the decades prior to the 1970s, when the Pedra Branca State Park was established. By collecting and analyzing oral histories through semi-structured interviews with often poor, older residents in proximity to the park, a clearer picture of the relationship between society and the forest over the past 40 years is obtained. Hunting practiced in the years prior to the 1970s was much more important to these residents for their cultural subsistence than dietary needs. Urbanization of this region of the city altered the relation that these populations had with the forest in various manners, such as greater access to industrialized food products and more ample use of refrigeration. This process practically eliminated the cultural necessity of hunting, although clandestine hunting continues, driven by a black market for animals and animal products. The identification of different motivations and feelings attributed to hunting sheds light on nature conservation policies and helps to understand the role of these marginalized citizens in the composition of the current forest.