The activity promoted the exchange of experiences about the territories and defined research guidelines for the advancement of the work.
To promote greater team integration and, above all, to deepen research strategies and actions, the Science Working Group of the ARCA program (Regenerative Agriculture for the Conservation of the Amazon) held the first meeting of researchers from the organizations involved in the initiative. The event took place in the municipality of Bacabal, 250 km from the capital São Luís, in the state of Maranhão, between December 2nd and 4th.
Organized by the Center for International Forestry Research and the International Center for Agroforestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF), responsible for coordinating ARCA in Brazil, the meeting involved the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA), The Nature Conservancy Brazil (TNC), and the Ouro Verde Institute (IOV). For three days, representatives from these organizations discussed the main research questions of the projects, defined specific actions, shared experiences, raised questions, and collaborated on the development of new strategies and solutions.
ARCA's purposes include enabling the development and implementation of innovations; scaling up Biodiverse Agroforestry Systems, ecological restoration, and sustainable management of socio-biodiversity products for indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and communities, and family farmers (PICTAFs). According to environmental engineer and Research and Development Manager at CIFOR-ICRAF, Henrique Marques, the GT's objective is to understand how research can generate impacts on the lives of these groups.
“The proposal is to discuss, analyze, understand, and propose mechanisms to improve livelihoods and enhance the generation of sustainable income for families. We need data and we want to understand how the development approach takes place in the field. Therefore, the objective of the Working Group is to integrate the approaches that each institution promotes in its areas of operation. Each context and situation calls for different approaches, and we need these different forms of investigation for each social group and its biophysical contexts,” explains Henrique Marques.
There are five research lines explored within the ARCA framework: Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) Practices; Governance and Territorial Dynamics; Gender and Youth Inclusion; Agroecological Transition and Sociobiodiversity Economics. The diverse expertise of each organization fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and the creation of more comprehensive and innovative solutions to the issues the Working Group aims to address, as each organization has distinct approaches, experiences, and competencies.
This distinction is evident in the territories directly targeted by the ARCA Program, which are the Northeast and Southeast of Pará; the Amazon Gateway and the Upper Xingu, in Mato Grosso; and the Pindaré and Gurupi River Valley, Middle Mearim and Itapecuru Valley, in Maranhão. All are located in the eastern part of the Amazon Deforestation Arc.
The coordinator of ARCA in Maranhão for ISPN, anthropologist Ana Tereza Ferreira, comments that the integration between the different organizations contributes to visualizing each potential for the development of the program, based on the research lines that the Working Group promotes. “ISPN focuses on the practical implementation of direct actions in the communities, and the integration promoted through the dialogue that we establish as part of the Working Group brings more value to the construction of our Science Plan; it is a shared and robust task,” declares the coordinator regarding the immersion days.
In the context of this joint construction of the ARCA Science Plan, the biologist responsible for managing the program at ISA, Beatriz Moraes Murer, emphasizes the importance of the meeting for the discussion that guides research actions based on reflection on individual strengths and points of convergence among organizations. "Research is essential in the context of gathering information and conducting evaluations, but always thinking about how to implement this in the daily work in the field to socially transform communities, which is our actual objective," she adds.
Thaciane Silva, an environmental engineer and geoprocessing specialist at TNC, emphasizes that the most important outcome of the meeting is the alignment among the researchers involved in implementing ARCA in the territories. “With the conclusion of our event, the alignment made it very clear how we can apply the research questions to the development of our activities and how we can contribute together with other organizations. We are all united by a cause and develop similar actions; alignment is essential to improve collaboration,” she concludes.
Field Visit
On the last day of the meeting, the research group conducted a field visit to one of the ARCA Demonstration Units in Maranhão, implemented by ISPN. The family farm where an agroforestry system is being improved with the support of the program is located in the Monte Cristo/Marmoranda Settlement Project, in the village of Centro da Josina, in São Luís Gonzaga, 250 km from the capital São Luís. On that occasion, the representatives of the organizations also learned more about the group of women artisans from the community, the Josinas de Fibra, who produce various items from banana fiber, such as bags, notebooks, accessories and other decorative articles.
The ARCA program is the result of a cooperation agreement signed between CIFOR-ICRAF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
By ISPN Press Office / Ariel Rocha