The Society, Population, and Nature Institute (ISPN) celebrates a decade of work in the state with indigenous peoples and traditional communities. The celebration will take place at Engenho Central, in the municipality of Pindaré Mirim, Maranhão.
In defense of agroecology, community strengthening and the search for socio-environmental justice, the Society, Population and Nature Institute (ISPN) completes 10 years with an office in Santa Inês (MA) and operations in Maranhão with indigenous peoples, babassu coconut breakers, quilombolas and traditional communities.
To celebrate, a ceremony will be held on Thursday (31), starting at 17 pm, at Engenho Central, in the municipality of Pindaré Mirim. The program will include a retrospective of the institute's first decade in the state and cultural presentations with Tambor de Crioula, Grupo de Caixa (Maria Caxeira) and Cantoria Indígena.
Over the 10 years it has operated in Santa Inês, Maranhão, ISPN has developed six projects focused on supporting community initiatives for the sustainable use of natural resources and strengthening social organizations. These are some of the pillars of the institute's operating strategy, Promotion of Ecosocial Productive Landscapes (PPP-ECOS), implemented in all projects, which also includes training processes, knowledge management and public policy advocacy.
The results include, for example, the encouragement of the formation of productive backyards in villages and the coordination to create a set of protected areas that houses the largest area of preserved Amazon Rainforest in Maranhão, the Gurupi Mosaic – formed by a biological reserve and six indigenous lands.
ISPN's executive coordinator, Fábio Vaz, explains that the institution's arrival in Maranhão stemmed from a proposal by the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (FUNAI) to manage a social responsibility fund, in consultation with Indigenous leaders. From there, its operations in the state solidified and continued through partnerships with Indigenous organizations, such as the Coordination of Organizations and Coalition of Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão (COAPIMA).
"We began managing Vale's social responsibility resources for the indigenous peoples of that region, impacted by the operation of the Carajás Railroad. These resources were previously managed by Funai itself, and now they are increasingly being managed, and in greater volume, by local indigenous organizations to support their agendas," says Fábio Vaz.
Currently, the projects carried out have the support of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), in addition to Vale, to continue the actions of social change for the populations of the state and for the conservation of the Amazon and Cerrado biomes in Maranhão.
Community strengthening
"Since the beginning, we have worked to support communities with projects that can strengthen their capacity to engage with government agencies and manage their territories. To this end, we have invested in training people and strengthening community organizations through the Participatory Organizational Development (POD) methodology, which takes an innovative and reflective approach," says Ruthiane Pereira, coordinator of the Maranhão Program.
She highlights that the results reveal new community leaders and expand participation in institutional political spaces occupied by different communities.
Public policies
The Institute also expanded its network of articulations focusing on analysis, monitoring and advocacy in public policies in the state, and today it comprises collegiate bodies such as the State Environmental Council (Consema), the Commission of Traditional Peoples and Communities (CEPCT) and the State Forum for Human Rights (FEDHMA) and Solidarity Economy (ECOSOL).
An example of the result of ISPN's work in Maranhão is the mobilization around commercialization policies for sociobiodiversity products, involving dozens of social movements, civil society organizations, and public agencies.
"We have supported communities with training so they can raise funds through their organizations, which enables them to enter institutional markets and participate in different marketing spaces, generating income for families," comments Ruthiane Pereira, coordinator of the ISPN Maranhão Program.
This is the case of the Quilombola Community Association of São José dos Portugueses, in Cândido Mendes, northwestern Maranhão, which obtained a certificate of registration as a fruit pulp producer and manufacturer from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply (MAPA) in 2022. This allows the association to sell its products in the formal market, including through the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), and other markets throughout Brazil.
Advocay
To join forces in collective spaces of action in defense of management and Protecting environmental protection, human rights, and agroecology, ISPN is part of the Maranhão Agroecology Network (RAMA), the Popular Observatory of Sociobiodiversity and Climate, and other specific political advocacy groups. This work, known as advocacy, has gained importance in recent years, fulfilling the institutional mission of defending policies appropriate for traditional peoples and communities.
"Political advocacy work strengthens and feeds back into field activities, championing community agendas in public spaces and delivering the results of participatory and proactive advocacy," comments public policy advisor Vitor Hugo Moraes.
I'm on the map
As a state with numerous land issues and conflicts in the countryside, Maranhão was a priority for the I'm on the Map project, a territorial self-mapping application for traditional peoples and communities, built from a partnership between ISPN, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and the Cerrado Network, with the support of the Cerrados Institute, in dialogue with partners from the social movement.
With the populations mapped, it's possible to show the government the priorities for land management action. In Maranhão, 112 communities have been registered with the collaboration of ISPN partner institutions. "This number is constantly updated due to the communities' participation in the initiative and the priority work that ISPN continues to carry out in the state," highlighted Bruno Tarin, ISPN's governance advisor.
"The I'm on the map It is an example of cooperation with civil society organizations and the State that provides both the self-mapping of communities and the strengthening of public policies for conflict prevention,” says Vitor Hugo Moraes, public policy advisor at ISPN in the state.
Projects
ISPN is the organization implementing the Basic Environmental Plan – Indigenous Component – of the Awá Guajá and Guajajara peoples of the Rio Pindaré and Caru Indigenous Lands since 2013. The plan is a conditioning instrument for the environmental licensing of the Carajás Railway expansion project, led by Funai and the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).
As part of this implementation, for example, the Indigenous Project Manager Training Course was held, organized into five modules, with 1,5 hours of theoretical and practical classes in Santa Inês (MA) and in the youth villages, between 2016 and 2018. The initiative was in partnership with the State University of Maranhão (UEMA) and involved 20 young people from the Guajajara people of the Rio Pindaré and Caru Indigenous Lands.
Other important projects implemented in recent years have as their main objectives improving the rights and livelihoods of Indigenous peoples and local communities, supporting forest restoration initiatives and planting native species, and monitoring and protecting Indigenous lands and local conservation units. These projects rely on strategic partnerships with local and regional Indigenous organizations to expand and enhance the participation of their representatives in discussions on their rights.
Over the years, ISPN has also worked with traditional communities, including quilombolas, riverside communities, extractivists, and family farmers, in 14 municipalities in Maranhão, from Bacabeiras to São Pedro da Água Branca. The main production chains supported were: babassu coconut extraction; fish farming; productive backyards; chicken farming; crop fields; flour mills; beekeeping; and vegetable growing.
"We consider the continuation of ISPN's work with Indigenous peoples, traditional communities, and family farmers in Maranhão to be essential. We are currently in the finalization and negotiation phase for new projects to this end," comments Executive Coordinator Fábio Vaz.
This year, ISPN celebrated its 33rd anniversary. During this period, to strengthen sustainable community-based production, ISPN has supported more than 900 projects in the Cerrado, Caatinga, and Amazon biomes through PPP-ECOS, the Institute for Society, Population, and Nature's (ISPN) strategy for promoting Ecosocial Productive Landscapes.
SERVICE
Celebrating 10 years of ISPN in Maranhão
Ceremony and cultural attractions
When: Thursday, August 31, at 17 p.m.
Where: Engenho Central, municipality of Pindaré Mirim (MA)
Press contact: Letícia Verdi (61) 98628 7879 / Andreza Baré (61) 98150 0738