IPÊ hosts Participatory Biodiversity Monitoring cycle event in the Itatupã-Baquiá RDS

IPÊ met with members of the five communities of the Itatupã Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS) in Para state, from March 19-24 to discuss the results of the Participatory Biodiversity Monitoring Program (PBM). The project is undertaken in partnership with the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation ICMBio), through the National Research Centre for Amazon Biodiversity Conservation and Research (CEPAM).

The event took place at the conservation unit, and was attended by 50 community members, as well as IPÊ consultants, CEPAM members and ICMBio´s manager. IPÊ and CEPAM/ ICMBio presented the results to the communities, and together they drew conclusions as well as decided how the project will continue in 2019.

“Young people are better learners and they can share the information with the younger ones and help the community protect the environment”,said Manoel Benedito, one of the community members.

The monitoring in the RDS is part of the Continental Aquatic Program of the National Biodiversity Program (MONITORA), which focuses on aquatic biomes. The RSD was the first to receive training and to start collecting fishing monitoring data in 2017 with 36 volunteers. Today it involves 41 volunteers from five communities: Belo Horizonte, São Francisco, Santa Luzia, São João and Santa Maria.