Foundation for Amazon Sustainability

The Superintendent of Sustainable Development of Communities at the Foundation for Amazon Sustainability, Valcléia Solidade, contributed an article to O Eco - Jornalismo Ambiental, addressing the topic "Child Labor and Making Children Responsible for the Future of the Planet." Valcléia emphasizes that sustainability is intricately linked to social, environmental, and economic aspects, highlighting the urgent need to combat child labor in Brazil. She presents alarming data about the increase in this problem in recent years, especially in the northern region of the country, and underscores the importance of emergency actions. Furthermore, Valcleia points out that defending sustainability involves community empowerment, as well as improvements in education, health, and infrastructure. You can read the full article at: https://lnkd.in/dhx8qJ7c

“Before, we had to travel to the city of Manacapuru to schedule an appointment for our family. To get there, it takes a three and a half hour journey, with a simple appointment. With the telehealth system, everything has become much better, it has made this process much easier, as we no longer need to travel all that distance.” This is the story of Marizangela Damasceno Sales, 31 years old, resident of the Betel community, located in the Piranha Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS), in the rural area of Manacapuru. She is one of hundreds of users benefiting from the telehealth project, carried out by FAS, in partnership with the Ambassade de France au Brésil, which brings telehealth services to riverside communities in the state. Until June this year, there were 255 medical, psychological and nursing tele-consultations, in addition to 242 tele-orientations carried out through connectivity points installed in the communities of Betel, in the RDS of Piranha, and Nossa Senhora do Perpétuo Socorro and Terra Preta, both in the RDS of Rio Negro. In addition to teleservices for community members, the project also promotes the qualification of Community Health Agents who work in the region. In total, there were 61 web lectures aimed at these professionals. “The telehealth system came to improve the population, especially with nursing care, as the community does not have a health center. As a professional, I also learned more. Since receiving support from FAS, I have met incredible nurses and psychologists. Telehealth is extremely important for the community, I am very grateful”, says Community Health Agent, Erotildes de Couto Braga, who works in the Bethel community. Telehealth care takes place at connectivity points installed by the FAS and the French Embassy within the communities. Each point has its own photovoltaic energy generation and high-speed satellite internet in remote locations. The telehealth project promotes expanded access to healthcare, transmission of medical data and virtual consultations for traditional populations in the Amazon, in addition to ongoing education for healthcare professionals. Currently, the project offers teleconsultations in psychology and nursing. To do this, it has the support of Community Health Agents, who actively search within the communities. Residents' demands are passed on to the telehealth team, which welcomes and triages the patient. The user is referred to teleservice with a healthcare professional. Photo: Rodolfo Pongelupe

Arapaima is one of the main sources of income for managers in the Médio Solimões region, in the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve. And to enhance fish management and promote prosperity in riverside communities, Foundation for Amazon Sustainability launches the project “Traceability system: innovation and market intelligence in the pirarucu production chain of RDS Mamirauá”. The project arises from the need to improve fishermen’s income. Annually, managers receive validation from the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis - Ibama, which allows the start of sustainable management activities for Pirarucu. Management takes place through lake monitoring (surveillance), fishing inventory activities, harvesting, in addition to processing up to the commercialization stage. Sales are made both to local buyers and to slaughterhouses in the region. A study carried out by the University of Notre Dame, in 2019, pointed out differences in the distribution percentages of economic results arising from the Pirarucu management activity in RDS Mamirauá. According to the data collected, only 15% of the profits directly benefit the handlers, while 30% goes to middlemen and the significant majority, 50%, remains in the hands of the region's meatpackers. This unequal concentration of gains in the pirarucu production chain highlights the need for positive interventions that promote a fairer distribution of economic benefits. The traceability system proposal was selected to receive resources from Positivo Tecnologia via the Priority Bioeconomy Program (PPbio), which is coordinated by the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (Idesam). The objective of the project is to develop and apply technologies aimed at product origin traceability processes, aiming for improvement, innovation in business management and a commercialization plan for market intelligence. In total, 55 managers in three communities (Mangueira, Catiti and Jussara) of RDS Mamirauá will directly benefit, with four aspects: strengthening the productive infrastructure of the pirarucu chain, technological advancement of the territory, promotion of the local economy and innovation and commercial intelligence. Based on the traceability project, handlers will receive training in good management practices for counting, monitoring and pre-processing fish. And this training will guarantee the systematization of the removal of fish from the lakes and their distribution to the salting plant, supporting the digitalization of the tracking of fish still in the lakes and providing digitalization of data and, in this way, contributing to the increase in income of 45 riverside families . Photo: Rodolfo Pongelupe #productive #traceability #pirarucu

In the month in which World Environment Day is celebrated, knowing the importance of water as an essential resource for life on the planet and to draw attention to climate change, the Foundation for Amazon Sustainability (FAS) launches the documentary “Beyond of the borders: Journey to the Source of the Amazon River”. The documentary aims to show the importance of creating an environmental conservation area in the birthplace of the Amazon River, in Nevado Mismi, located in the Arequipa region, in Peru. “Getting to the source of the Amazon River is not easy, so the documentary aims to show this entire experience of reaching the source of this river, which is one of the largest and most important on the planet. And in parallel to this, we also want to show how climate change is affecting the lives of populations living in the Andes and how important it is to make the spring area a protected area. So, I hope that by watching this documentary, people can understand and see that climate change is real and that there is no more time for denialism, we need to act now, so that we can have hope for a prosperous future for all people ”, declares Virgilio Viana, general superintendent of FAS. FAS, together with the Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (SERNANP) of the Government of Peru, with the support of the Network of Solutions for the Sustainable Development of the Amazon (SDSN Amazonia ), mobilized to create this area, in early January 2014, when, on an expedition, the general superintendent of FAS, Virgilio Viana, identified the need to conserve the site and presented the proposal to the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment. The documentary shows the area that comprises the source of the largest river in the world, a territory that covers 28 thousand hectares and is threatened by the melting process of glaciers caused by climate change. According to data from the Instituto Nacional de Investigación en Glaciares y Ecosistemas de Montaña - INAIGEM, El Mismi is at risk of disappearing in 2027. In the last 50 years, the mountain has lost 99% of its glacial reserves, leaving only 0.19 square kilometers remaining . The melting of glaciers has serious consequences for local communities, such as changes in the water regime of natural lakes and streams, risks of avalanches and floods, and the likelihood of contamination by chemicals present in the ice crust and mountains, threatening the ecosystem, the productive systems and the population. You can watch the documentary through the link: https://lnkd.in/eUqXhV_E

The source of the Amazon River, located in Nevado Mismi, in the region of Arequipa, Peru, is not yet a protected area. To document and draw attention to this issue, FAS will release the documentary ''Beyond borders: Journey to the Source of the Amazon River'', which records the impacts suffered by communities due to climate change on an expedition to Nevado Mismi. FAS's efforts aim not only to create a protected area, but also to promote climate change adaptation plans that are accelerating in Nevado Mismi. The region has experienced accelerated melting of its glaciers, a direct consequence of rising global temperatures. This melting not only threatens the source of the Amazon River, but also directly affects local communities, who depend on meltwater for their daily activities.

Between May 14 and 16, the FAS headquarters hosted the Seminar on Leveling and Training in Jurisdictional REDD+ and the TREES standard. Promoted by the Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira (Coiab), the Amazon Centre for Indigenous Training (Cafi) and Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART), the event brought together dozens of indigenous communicators and delegates in Manaus who will be working directly in their territories throughout the states of the Brazilian Amazon.   The seminar was the first activity carried out with the training multipliers, the lawyers from the COIAB and ART Network, to organize the training processes for three seminars to be held in the hub states: Tocantins, Mato Grosso and Amapá. Among the main lines of work for the training are ongoing training with indigenous peoples on climate change, carbon and jurisdictional REDD+.   As part of the event's program, Rosa dos Anjos, supervisor of FAS's Indigenous Subprogram, gave a presentation on the strategy of the Foundation for Amazon Sustainability for supporting indigenous peoples and REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) in the Amazon context.   The Foundation for Amazon Sustainability was one of the supporters of the seminar, as part of the project “Training in REDD+: Traditional and Indigenous Communities in the Amazon”. This initiative has a partnership with the Governors' Climate & Forests Task Force and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and support from the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas (MCFA). (with information from the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon - Coiab)

The Superintendent of Sustainable Development of Communities at Foundation for Amazon Sustainability (FAS), Valcléia Solidade, contributed an article to O Eco - Jornalismo Ambiental, addressing the urgent climate situation we are facing. In the article, Valcléia raises the dangers of denialist discourses that try to minimize or deny the reality of climate change. ‘’It is necessary to think about resilience actions, but, above all, strategic political actions, looking at the biomes of our Brazil and everything that is possible to develop in these territories. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the new reality and look for alternatives, already implemented in other countries, to contain situations like these”, he emphasizes.

In October 2023, the Foundation for Amazon Sustainability team embarked on a journey to the source of the Amazon River, located in Nevado Mismi, in the region of Arequipa, Peru, to document and raise awareness about the need to create a protected area in the region. The path to the source of the Amazon river is arduous: travelers traveled by plane, car and finally on foot, facing the intense cold and challenging altitude. With 28 thousand hectares, the spring region is under serious threat due to the climate crisis, which is melting its glaciers at an alarming rate and could disappear by 2027. Check out the article and understand how climate change is affecting the Andean Amazon. #Amazon #climatechange #AndeanAmazon

The source of the Amazon River, located in Nevado Mismi, in the region of Arequipa, Peru, is not yet a protected area. This region is vital not only because of its geographic importance, but also because it is one of the areas most affected by climate change.  FAS, in partnership with the Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado - SERNANP of the Government of Peru and with the support of the SDSN Amazonia , is mobilizing to transform the birthplace of the largest river in the world in an environmental protection area. FAS's efforts aim not only to create a protected area, but also to promote climate change adaptation plans that are accelerating in Nevado Mismi. The region has experienced accelerated melting of its glaciers, a direct consequence of rising global temperatures. This melting not only threatens the source of the Amazon River, but also directly affects local communities, who depend on meltwater for their daily activities.  To document and draw attention to this situation, in 2023 FAS carried out an expedition to the top of Nevado Mismi. This expedition recorded the stories of the affected communities and the environmental challenges they faced.  The result will be presented in a documentary, which will be released on June 5th on the FAS YouTube channel.

On this International Day of Light, we remember the article written by the superintendent of community development at FAS, Valcléia Solidade, and published in O Eco - Jornalismo Ambiental about how prosperity in the Amazon goes hand in hand with the supply of energy in communities. According to the superintendent, there are many challenges to be overcome for projects like these to reach distant places. ''I usually mention three main ones: logistics, communication and energy. The logistics of getting to certain communities are very difficult, some journeys take days, along the gigantic Amazon rivers. Communication is another complicating factor, as there is no telephone. And both are linked to the lack of energy'', he highlights. Valcléia also cites the successful pilot project implemented by FAS that can serve as an example for replicability in other clean energy locations in the Amazon. ''In the Santa Helena do Inglês Community, in partnership with the company UCB, it installed photovoltaic solar energy that uses lithium batteries. The technology is considered innovative and sustainable, as well as adaptable to the reality of riverside communities.''