Total funding for indigenous organizations, traditional peoples and communities, and family farming organizations amounts to R$11 million.
In 2024, the year the Ecos Fund celebrated its 30th anniversary, five calls for proposals were launched to support more than 100 community projects, with a total budget of approximately R$ 11 million. The calls are aimed at indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and communities, and family farmers in the Cerrado, Caatinga, and Amazon biomes.
“This year is a milestone for the Ecos Fund. Not only because of the three decades of accumulated experience, with more than a thousand projects supported, but also because it demonstrates the ability to forge new partnerships – as was the case with the latest calls for proposals – to raise funds with new investors, and to maintain relationships with our oldest partners,” explained the coordinator of the Ecos Fund. Rodrigo Noleto.
He further added that, in 2024, there was the “almost simultaneous launch of three robust calls for proposals, which will help support small initiatives, but also consolidate networks, promote political articulations and community enterprises. In other words, the aspirations of the communities have been translated into projects!” Between September and October, two other calls for proposals, focusing on indigenous territories, were published.
The poem “The Pillars of the Ecos Fund,” written by babaçu coconut breaker Maria do Socorro Teixeira in celebration of the Ecos Fund's 30th anniversary, is available at the end of this text. Check it out!
This year's calls for proposals are noteworthy for their diversity of funders, support categories, and themes. For the first time in the history of the Ecos Fund, a thematic focus has been established to support projects by women, in the context of socio-productive inclusion, and by rural youth, within the scope of education in rural areas (see calls for proposals 38 and 39).
The first call for proposals of the year, the Redes program, launched on May 3rd, selected projects from articulated initiatives, aiming to encompass a larger number of networked organizations and amplify the results. The last two calls for proposals launched in 2024 are for financing micro and small projects and focus on indigenous territories.
According to ISPN's managing director, Cristiane Azevedo, "the anniversary of the Ecos Fund celebrates the strength of communities in transforming landscapes and lives. This independent fund reaffirms our commitment to democratizing access to resources for grassroots organizations and local communities, who are largely responsible for the conservation of our biodiversity."
“In 2024, the expansion of the number of partnerships and funding sources allowed for the allocation of R$ 11 million through five new calls for proposals, enabling the prioritization of projects specifically aimed at women and young people, as well as support for various initiatives in the Cerrado, Amazon, and Caatinga biomes. This is community philanthropy strengthening the protagonism of peoples in their territories, connecting their experience and dreams to concrete actions, building sustainable solutions,” she concludes.
Thematic diversity in calls for proposals
Social
Released on May 3rd, the 37st notice [Redes] focuses on projects that operate as a network. The organizations that have already been selected will work with partners to execute the project. This format was proposed to amplify the benefits and results of the initiative.
For this call for proposals, the R$ 2,1 million funding was made available by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), through the "Seventh Operational Phase of the Ecos Fund," a project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
See the nine selected projects. here.
Maranhão and Tocantins
Already 38st notice [Women & Youth], launched on July 23, has an unprecedented feature. For the first time in its history, the Ecos Fund focused exclusively on supporting projects led by women, in the context of socio-productive inclusion, and young people, in the context of rural education in municipalities in Maranhão and Tocantins.
Another unique aspect of the call for proposals is... The financing model adopted, called "match funding," prioritizes financial collaboration. In this case, the The R$4,1 million investment is made possible by the Socio-environmental Fund of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and by Suzano.
See the selected projects here.
Cerrado and Caatinga
Along the same thematic lines, the notice 39th [Women & Youth] will allocate R$4,2 million to projects developed by women and young people focusing on sustainable rural development and environmental benefits in the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes.
This call for proposals is made possible by resources from the GEF, as was the case with call for proposals 37, and also from the Socio-environmental Fund of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), within the scope of the Youth Empowerment and Rural Feminism project.
Indigenous territories
The last two calls for proposals of the year are aimed at indigenous territories and are part of the project. “Alliance of Indigenous Peoples for the Forests of Eastern Amazonia” – a partnership between the Center for Indigenous Work (CTI), ISPN, and the indigenous organizations Wyty Cate Association of the Timbira Communities of Maranhão and Tocantins, Coordination of Indigenous Organizations and Articulations of the Peoples of Maranhão (Coapima) and Articulation of Indigenous Women of Maranhão (Amima).
Financial support is provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
O first of these callsThe program, with applications open until February 21, 2025, focuses on territorial and environmental management projects in Indigenous Lands in Maranhão, northern Tocantins (Apinajé and Kraolândia), and eastern Pará (Alto Rio Guamá). R$ 600 will be available to support up to 10 projects, with a maximum budget of R$ 60 per proposal.
Complementing this call for proposals, and focusing on the same region, the last announcement of the yearThe program, whose registration period has already closed and is currently in the selection phase, aims to support 20 micro-projects led by indigenous women, with funding of up to R$ 6 each.
This call for proposals also has the financial support of USAID.
Ecos Fund
The Ecos Fund enables ISPN's work strategy, called the Promotion of Productive Eco-social Landscapes. It is an independent fund that raises resources from various different funders and allocates them to projects by community organizations working for environmental conservation through the sustainable use of natural resources, generating economic and social benefits.
Created in 1994, the fund has already supported more than a thousand projects and invested approximately US$25 million in that period, in the Cerrado, Amazon, and Caatinga biomes.
Learn more on the Ecos Fund website. here.
Poem "The pillars of the Ecos Fund"
By Maria do Socorro Teixeira Lima, babaçu coconut breaker and leader in the Interstate Movement of Babaçu Coconut Breakers (MIQCB)
Community Leadership
Seeking to strengthen
Equal incentive
To Grow Autonomy
Active participation cool
Creation and impact
From innovative projects
and also sustainable
Active Listening Of Quality
We understand that Communities
Who speaks to us of Truths?
From Traditional Problems
Always with open ears
To understand the demands
Seeking dialogue to help
And the solutions to be developed
Desire for Transformation
We are driven by willpower.
Building a sustainable future
Of the people and also of the nation
With life and equity
For Social Humanity
Caring for socio-biodiversity
Maintaining agroforestry
Different Paradigms
Of meaning to foster
With current development
And implement the changes.
Transformative Policies
To make the world a better place.
Respect and dignity for people
And new life for the peoples to continue.
Transformation model
With climate change
In the communities of the Sertão
And with Ecological productions
Respect and trust
Roots with strong connections
And with true bonds
Building life and security
Reinforcing trust
Between us and the communities
Indigenous Quilombola Peoples
Extractivists and Traditional Peoples
Guaranteeing family farming
Contributing to change
Sustainable development
Seeking to structure agriculture
Active and social justice ally
Maintaining environmental balance
Strengthening ways of life
From the rural populations
Multiplication of knowledge
Knowledge and values
Actors' Experience
Instruments and factors
Strengthen community leadership
Encouraging environmental conservation
And promoting social equity.
Combating racial inequality
Text by ISPN Communications Office/Camila Araujo.