The Gurupi Mosaic Council meets in Santa Inês (MA), from July 18 to 20, for the sixth time, to strengthen integrated and participatory territorial and environmental management strategies for protected areas and indigenous lands.
On that occasion, the new executive secretariat will be chosen, a position currently held for the past five years by the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN). There will also be the launch of a newsletter about the Mosaic, as well as the sharing of environmental management initiatives from the territories that comprise the Mosaic and the institutions that make up the council.
“The Gurupi Mosaic Council is a fundamental governance body of the Mosaic, bringing together institutions, people, and groups to jointly articulate their strategies for territorial protection, environmental conservation, and the appreciation of indigenous and traditional cultures that are part of this great network of solidarity in favor of the Amazon, which is the Gurupi Mosaic,” highlights João Guilherme Nunes Cruz, coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples Program at ISPN.
The Gurupi Mosaic forms an ethno-environmental corridor rich in socio-biodiversity, with an area of influence of approximately 46 km² in Maranhão and eastern Pará. It is formed by the Gurupi Biological Reserve (Rebio Gurupi) and the Indigenous Lands of Alto Turiaçu, Awá, Caru, Rio Pindaré, Araribóia and Alto Rio Guamá (in Pará), belonging to the Guajajara, Awa-Guajá, Ka'apor and Tembé peoples.
Standing forest
In the state of Maranhão, the Gurupi Mosaic is home to the largest preserved area of Amazon Rainforest and, since 2014, has proposed ecological connectivity between conservation units and indigenous lands, based on the need to find ways to implement initiatives for territorial protection and biodiversity conservation.
The Mosaic area is one of the most threatened by the pressure of deforestation and other illegal acts, such as land invasion, which threaten biodiversity, environmental services, and the rights of indigenous peoples and traditional communities. The Gurupi Biological Reserve is home to endangered fauna species, such as the jaguar and the golden parakeet, the national bird of Brazil.
The territory also includes indigenous groups living in voluntary isolation. The presence and millennia-long occupation of these peoples in the region has ensured its conservation, suggesting that traditional indigenous ways of life are interdependent with nature, which must be managed sustainably.
The official recognition of the Gurupi Mosaic is in process, still requiring the inclusion of one more conservation unit (UC), in addition to the Gurupi Biological Reserve, in order to comply with the provisions of the National System of Conservation Units (Law 9.985/200).
“The Mosaic represents the possibility of integrating actions to protect Indigenous Territories and Conservation Units, bringing positive synergies in favor of human rights, biodiversity conservation, maintenance of ecosystem services and sustainable rural landscapes,” says the Newsletter about the Gurupi Mosaic, highlighting the importance of this official recognition.
The Newsletter
The ISPN will launch the Gurupi Mosaic Newsletter during the meeting. This publication presents each territory that makes up this group of protected areas and recounts the process of coordination that led to the creation of the mosaic and the formation of its management council. The volume also includes a timeline and maps showing the location and access infrastructure, deforestation, and hotspots of the Biological Reserve and the six indigenous lands.
The publication will be distributed in villages, towns, schools, community-based associations, universities, state institutions, civil society organizations, and those that are part of the council, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge about the territories of the Mosaic. After the launch, it will be available in PDF format on the ISPN website.
The following are part of the Gurupi Mosaic Management Council:
- Indigenous peoples: Maynumy Association of the Rio Pindaré Indigenous Land; Wirazu Association of the Caru Indigenous Land; Ka'apor Ta Hury Association; Coordination of the Commission of Chiefs and Indigenous Leaders of the Araribóia-Cocalitia Indigenous Land; and representatives of the Awá Indigenous People;
- Civil society: Associação Bom Jesus, representing the communities in interface with the Gurupi Biological Reserve, the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) and the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN);
- Educational and Research InstitutionsFederal University of Maranhão, Federal Institute of Education of Maranhão, State University of Maranhão and Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará;
- State and federal governments: Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), Secretariat of the Environment of Maranhão (Semas/MA), Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainability of Pará (Semas/PA), Secretariat of Human Rights and Popular Participation of Maranhão (Sedihpop/MA), Federal Police and Environmental Police Battalion of Maranhão.
Gurupi Mosaic in data:
- Comprising six Indigenous Territories and one Biological Reserve (Gurupi Biological Reserve);
- 46,4 km² in area;
- It is home to the largest area of Amazon rainforest in Maranhão;
- Large terrestrial and aquatic fauna;
- 46 endemic species and others threatened with extinction, including the jaguar;
- It is part of the region known as the Belém Center of Endemism, an area with a significant presence of endemic species from Eastern Amazonia;
- Tembé, Awá-Guajá, Guajajara and Ka'apor peoples.
What is a mosaic?
The concept of a mosaic of protected areas is defined in the law that established the National System of Conservation Units (Law 9.985/200). According to the text, a mosaic is a set of conservation units of different categories or not, close, juxtaposed or overlapping, and other public or private protected areas. When defined as a mosaic, this set has an integrated and participatory management, and the objectives should aim at the conservation of socio-biodiversity.
In Brazil, there are 17 mosaics formalized by the Ministry of the Environment (MMA). The regularization process for Gurupi began in 2014 and has not yet been completed.
Support
The 6th meeting of the Gurupi Mosaic Council is supported by the Indigenous Landscapes Project, a result of the partnership between ISPN, the Indigenous Work Center (CTI), and the Nupef Institute. The project has financial support from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) through the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).
