Between July 27 and 31, 2026, the University of Brasília hosted the VI Brazilian Conference on Ecological Restoration (SOBRE 2026), the largest ecological restoration meeting in the country. The event brought together researchers, representatives of public bodies, indigenous peoples, quilombola communities, traditional communities and family farmers (PIQCTAFs), seed and seedling producers, civil society organizations, companies and universities.
The event consisted of five days of plenary sessions, roundtables, workshops, and symposia that addressed various topics related to ecological restoration in Brazil. ISPN supported the participation of indigenous peoples, traditional communities, family farmers, and young students from rural schools in the discussions.
“In these more than 30 years of supporting restoration projects in the territories, we have come to understand that restoration is much more than just the hectares restored and involves many other dimensions,” explains Natanna Horstmann, socio-environmental analyst at ISPN. “We can mention the dimension of strengthening collectives, associations, and cooperatives that build these themes in their territories. We can also talk about the learning dimension, insofar as what constitutes restoration is traditional knowledge that has long safeguarded and managed their territories,” she adds.
Restoration is carried out in various forms and contexts within these territories: reforestation, productive restoration, agroforestry systems, productive backyards, among other initiatives of enormous importance for the well-being of the communities that develop them.
“We can also talk about access to markets, insofar as restoration is also productive and provides healthy food, as well as fruits for extractive activities and for the restoration chain itself, such as the production of native seeds and seedlings,” pointed out Natanna Horstmann. “Finally, we need to have a vision of restoration on a landscape scale, which includes thinking from the perspective of water security, prioritizing areas, and territorial protection and management,” she added.
ISPN also participated in meetings of the Cerrado, Caatinga, and Amazon networks, which addressed the importance of biomatic networks for interconnecting different collective actors in restoration within these biomes. These networks work to share learnings, map initiatives, strengthen territorial collaborations, produce knowledge about restoration, and even collectively influence perspectives on public policies related to the topic.
Education in rural areas and restoration
On the 28th, ISPN promoted the workshop “Rural Education as a Basis for Ecological Restoration,” aimed at teachers and students from the Family Centers for Alternating Training (CEFFAs). In addition to the more than 30 partners supported by ISPN to participate in the conference, the activity brought together various participants interested in the topic. The workshop was organized into distinct groups—students, teachers, and professionals in Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (ATER)—allowing each segment to discuss the role of ecological restoration from their own perspective for rural education.
According to Leniomar Rodrigues Mendonça, coordinator of the Rural Family House in Zé Doca, Maranhão, the workshops at SOBRE were important for exchanging experiences with other communities and schools. “We have an Agroforestry System (AFS) implemented last year. And we are able to get the students involved in this AFS, showing that these systems can be replicated in their communities. With these workshops, we can bring new ideas and innovations to our school, strengthening this agroecological recovery work.”
Finally, the groups presented a summary of the discussions in plenary, which contributed to the drafting of a letter presented the following day during the roundtable discussion “Building the Foundations of Restoration in the Territories: From School to Technical Assistance”. The roundtable discussion brought together representatives from the National Agency for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Anater), the Ministry of Education (MEC), the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA), the Federal Institutes, the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the CEFFAs, and other partner institutions.
The discussions highlighted the need to recognize CEFFAs as full-time schools, ensuring adequate funding for their activities and the development of Youth Professional Projects (PPJs), strengthening rural education as a strategy for restoring the sustainability of the territories.
Restoration on Indigenous Lands
ISPN, through its Indigenous Peoples Program team, organized the roundtable discussion “Gurupi Mosaic as an Integrated Territory for Networked Restoration among Indigenous Lands,” bringing together representatives from the Indigenous Lands that comprise the Gurupi Mosaic and the Kanela Indigenous Land. The roundtable included representatives from IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) from the states of Pará and Maranhão, Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) from Pará, FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), Conservation International, researchers, and other interested parties.
The meeting was crucial for strengthening alliances between the different actors involved in the conservation and restoration of this region, which safeguards the last remaining forest fragments of Eastern Amazonia. The discussions highlighted the need to expand actions beyond indigenous lands, also reaching areas where environmental degradation is advancing, leading to biodiversity loss, increased temperatures, and significant impacts on springs and waterways, compromising water availability and quality in the region, especially in the Pindaré River Basin.
In this context, the importance of networking to raise awareness among rural landowners about the restoration of Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) was highlighted, contributing to the protection of water resources and security in indigenous territories.
During the discussion, Jamilson Guajajara, a firefighter from the Caru Indigenous Territory, shared his experience with the Agroforestry System (SAF) implemented in the territory, which involves collaborative work between brigades, guardians, warriors, and youth.
“We are seeing that it is yielding results. And we don’t want to stop. In the Caru [Indigenous Territory] region, which was an area with a lot of logging and destruction, scars were left. So we thought about taking this reforestation there as well,” he reported, showing that the restoration process also strengthens the protection of the territory.
Indigenous leader Valber Tembé, from the Alto Rio Guamá Indigenous Territory, highlighted that environmental restoration for indigenous peoples goes far beyond planting trees, encompassing history, spirituality, ways of life, and relationships with the territory. He emphasizes the importance of partners understanding the local reality, the needs, and the knowledge of each community, so that projects do not fail like others that have failed due to a lack of dialogue.
"The [indigenous] people have been restoring [the territory] for a long time, ever since the elders began fighting to defend the territory, to prevent a single tree from being cut down. The territory has been restored by the elders who were there, by those who died within the territory, giving their lives so that a single tree would not be cut down."
Financing
Concluding our participation in the conference, Jessica Pedreira, analyst for the Community Initiatives Program at ISPN, took part in the closing plenary session “Financing for a Diverse and Inclusive Restoration,” alongside Sérgio Leitão, from the Escolhas Institute, Rafael Stein, from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), and Fabrícia Santarém, a traditional resident of the Gerais region, coordinator of Araticum, and member of Coocrearp.
“For restoration funding to be truly inclusive and participatory, it needs to be based on listening to the local communities. It needs to reach the audiences that are directly on the front lines of restoration, which are the people most affected by climate change, water insecurity, and the effects of drought, namely women,” says Jéssica Pedreira. She adds that beyond thinking about inclusion, restoration truly needs to “bring resources to the territories that strengthen grassroots organizations and improve local capacities.”
The ISPN analyst presented the Ecos Fund experience as an inclusive and participatory financing mechanism, capable of directing resources to community-based organizations that work directly in biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration, strengthening local initiatives by listening to the needs of those who live and work in the territories on this front line.
At the end of SOBRE 2026, it became clear that ecological restoration is, above all, about strengthening people, livelihoods, and territories. The debates reinforced that the future of restoration depends on the recognition and leadership of those who live in, protect, and transform these territories daily.
ISPN concludes this edition of the conference with the conviction that this path is built in partnership and with the commitment to continue expanding support for community initiatives.
“May we return to the next edition of SOBRE in 2028 with an even more consolidated presence and an increasingly strong participation from our partners, highlighting the fundamental role that indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and communities, family farmers, and local organizations play in this network of restoration,” concluded Rodrigo Noleto, coordinator of the ISPN Community Initiatives Program.