luca fanelli's blog

The Instituto Socioambiental is right now implementing a project, called “Plano diretor para recomposição florestal visando à conservação de recursos hídricos da bacia hidrográfica do rio Ribeira de Iguape e Litoral sul” [Planning scheme for the forest reconstruction, aiming at the conservation of the water resources of the basin of the Ribeira river and the southern coast].

The project will define priority riverbank areas, to be reconstructed as riparian forest. The project involves representative of public bodies, farmers, trade unions, associations, among others, from about 20 municipalities of the Ribeira valley region, in the S. Paulo state. The project uses sound mapping tools, combined with participatory methodologies.

I’ve contributed as animator in two regional workshop, in Registro and Juquiá.

Translated from the news appeared on the Instituto Socioambiental website.

The Feira de Troca de Sementes e Mudas Tradicionais [Fair of Landraces Exchange] presented this year more than 100 etnovarieties of landraces and traditional seedlings. A generous offer of rice, beans, cassava, farmyard chicken – all natural inputs – allowed six cooks, also from the villages, to prepare a delicious collective lunch.

The Fair, at it 3rd edition, counted with new supporters, as of the Núcleo Oikos, as well as with long-standing ones, as the Norwegian Church Aid, while grew the engagement of the Instituto de Terras do Estado de São Paulo [Land Institute of S. Paulo State] and of the municipality of Eldorado and Itaóca. Local business supported with little sums the event too, and that it is very important, showing the involvement of the local society.

The renown the Fair is obtaining in wider circles was proved by the participation of other quilombola (afro-descendant) of the region (Peropava village, in Registro), craftswomens’ groups (Feito a Mão, from Apiaí), urban farmer (Ana do Mel and her family, from Embu-Guaçu), rural trade unions (of Cajatí), governmental bodies, as Ministério da Agricultura [Agriculture Ministry], Sabesp (in charge of the water), Cetesb (environment licensing) and Incra (land policy), among others. A group from S. Paulo, interested in knowing more about quilombola villages participated too, and after the Fair they followed, going to the Ivaporunduva e São Pedro villages, and spending there their week-end.

The landraces call to mind the roça (cropping) issue, that stays at the crossroad of other issues, as: community organization, the quilombola cultural system, biodiversity conservation, income generation, food security, involvement of the young generations and cropping normative framework. These issues were debated during a round of talks, held after the lunch, that involved quilombola villages representatives and invited visitors. [...]

New challenges follow the work of those who are involved with roça (cropping), preparing a new fair. The fair, in the words of Ms. Zulmira, from Porto Velho, more than bringing food, brings much union: “For each fair, the sales grow and the relationship strengthen”, she said.

The fair was covered by the Globo Rural. Watch the video here (in Portuguese).

Representante de ONG angolana visita o quilombo de Bombas, no Vale do Ribeira (SP) e conversa com as lideranças locais sobre as semelhanças e diferenças dos problemas enfrentados por comunidades tradicionais de seu país na relação com as áreas protegidas. A comunidade de Bombas vive dentro de um parque, criado em sobreposição ao território quilombola. Da mesma forma, inúmeras comunidades pastoris, vivem no Parque do Bicuar, em Angola.

Leia a notícia na integra no site do Instituto Socioambiental.

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Presenting two posters at the IV Seminário de Pesquisa do Vale do Ribeira:

Fanelli, Luca; Pasinato, Raquel. Sementes tradicionais em comunidades quilombolas do Vale do Ribeira (SP) [Landraces in quilombola villages of the Ribeira Valley]

Oliveira Junior, Clovis José Fernandes; Fanelli, Luca. Populações de palmeira juçara em comunidades quilombolas no Vale do Ribeira [Juçara palm population in quilombola villages of the Ribeira Valley]

Coming from Piemonte (Italy), the students of the University of Gastronomic Sciences (UniSG) created, together with local cooks, two workshops in the Ribeira Valley quilombos of Ivaporunduva (Eldorado, SP, Brazil) and Mandira (Cananéia, SP, Brazil).

Read more on the Instituto Socioambiental web site (in Portuguese).

 

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Late in October the Brazilian journal O Estado de São Paulo published an article about the trip. See it (in Portuguese).

Semeando sustentabilidade . A juçara e as comunidades quilombolas no Vale do Ribeira [Sowing sustentability. The juçara and the quilombola villages in the Ribeira Valley] presents, in a simple and pleasant way, some issue related to the conservation, the management and the use of the juçara palm (Euterpe edulis) and, more specifically the results of a project, supported by the Ministry of the Environment PDA programme.

Contents: Map to a scale of 1:160.000 of the project implementation region, pointing out the quilombola villages, the protected areas and the main activities executed – Pictures with explanation – The juçara, the Ribeira Valley and the project: a chronology – The ecological knowledge of the quilombola people about the juçara palm – A participatory tool used to debate within the communities the problems related to the juçara management – Project results – Next challenges – Another experience with juçara palm management in the Atlantic Forest – Elucidation about set of rules about juçara palm.

Sowing sustentability was published by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), with the support of the PDA Programme of the Ministry of the Environment. I edited this publication, together with Nilto Tatto.

Sowing sustentability is in Portuguese, and an on-line version could be downloaded here.