Sociobio It brings together environmentalists and organizations from the agricultural and forestry sectors to influence projects in Congress and ensure sustainability in Brazilian economic and social development.
Organizations led by the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA); the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN) and WWF-Brazil formalize the creation of Observatory of the Economy of Sociobiodiversity (ÓSocioBio) at a launch event on Wednesday, June 1st. It is the first public appearance of the collective of organizations, which brings together environmental NGOs, rural social movements, and indigenous and traditional populations in Brazil, such as the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS), the Chico Mendes Memorial, and the Pacari Network.. The event is held in partnership with the Parliamentary Environmental Front, with the participation of parliamentarians, public managers, civil society organizations, researchers, and specialized journalists. The Observatory's initiative is anchored on a three-pronged approach that combines Economy, People, and Biodiversity, and marks the beginning of the week of World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5th. [Read] here [SocioBio's cover letter]
The initiative's design began about six months ago, when organizations that work directly in political advocacy in the National Congress, in defense of the rights of family farmers, indigenous peoples and traditional peoples and communities, identified the need to intensify advocacy, given the distortion of the topic in many legislative matters related to the sociobiodiversity economy, generating confusion on the topic in Parliament and in society.
The Observatory positions itself in this context as a group of relevant and qualified actors to enrich the discussion on economic development with social equality and environmental balance, anchored in respect for the territorial rights of peoples. Issues related to guaranteeing territorial rights and access to traditional knowledge are highly relevant across the Observatory's approach. In an election year, the collective seeks to be a reference on the topic for presidential and regional candidates, as well as a source for elected state legislatures and executives.
Matters in progress
Despite the short election year, the Observatory believes there are bills that can progress satisfactorily in Congress before it concludes its activities. The group of experts highlights two currently under consideration in the Chamber of Deputies. The first is Bill (PL) 1970/2019, authored by Rogério Correia (Workers' Party-MG), which establishes the National Policy for the Sustainable Management, Planting, Extraction, Consumption, Marketing, and Transformation of Pequi and Other Native Fruits and Products of the Cerrado. The text awaits the appointment of a rapporteur in the Committee on Constitution, Justice, and Citizenship (CCJ). The second item is the PL 6079 / 2019, authored by Camilo Capiberibe (PSB/AP), which creates the National Policy to Encourage Family Agroextractivism in the Amazon and a national fund to support this public policy.
The topics are interesting because of the conviction that a conserved environment generates income and quality of life for populations, more so than agribusiness activities. “In Brazil, we have a unique situation: enormous sociocultural diversity, which is partly reflected in the product chains of Brazilian biodiversity, and a techno-scientific capacity to transform these products into wealth generators for the country, keeping the forest standing and preserving the ways of life of the people and communities that live there, avoiding deforestation and land grabbing,” explains Nurit Bensusan, a biologist at ISA. “The benefits of conservation are potentially much greater from an economic point of view and in generating quality of life for people in the forest and the city, than with activities that destroy the environment,” she adds. Conservation implies sustainable economic use through conscious management, industrialization, and extraction, coordinated and executed directly by traditional communities and family farmers.
For Guilherme Eidt, lawyer and public policy advisor at ISPN, there can be no preserved environment without investing in the sociobiodiversity economy. "People benefit from a preserved environment, and the environment is only preserved because they are there, enjoying natural resources in a traditionally sustainable way. They are interdependent," he states. "In traditional use, there is room to generate income, feed families, satisfy animals, fertilize the soil, and keep the world's natural cycle flowing, leaving wealth for future generations to benefit from, in addition to balancing the global climate," adds Eidt.
Sociobiodiversity Economics
According to a survey by ISA, only the products in natura Non-timber products, originating from forests and other Brazilian biomes, generated over R$1,6 billion in revenue in 2018, supplementing the income of millions of people, including Indigenous people, quilombolas, riverside communities, extractivists, and other traditional communities across the country. The açaí market alone was estimated at US$712 million in 2017, with an expected turnover of up to US$2 billion by 2025, considering the entire production chain.
Kenzo Jucá, a sociologist specializing in environmental law and legislative advisor at ISA, explains that these and other figures prove that the socio-biodiversity economy should represent an indispensable variable in macroeconomic policy. "It's necessary to observe that, made invisible between environmental conservation and the economic machine of agribusiness in the countryside, there are thousands of traditional, quilombola, and indigenous communities that drive the country's economy and lack adequate socioeconomic public policies," he points out.
"At a time of intensifying climate change, where the 'bioeconomy' is the concept in vogue, including quality of life and territorial rights in accounting is the great challenge of this Observatory, related to public economic policies, socio-biodiversity, climate, industry, education, technology and socio-environmental legislation", comments Kenzo Jucá.
Follow the launch highlights on Twitter. ISPN, ISA and WWF-Brazil.