New partners increase opportunities for Our Forest, Our Home project
Our Forest, Our Home – Tupi Mosaic (Nossa Floresta, Nossa Casa – Mosaico Tupi) seeks to build capacity among Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon, and fosters economic initiatives that promote forest conservation and strengthen the culture and governance of their territories. The project has attracted new partners in recent months.
These new partners include the Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA) and Origins Brazil (Origens Brasil), a collaborative network involving businesses, support institutions, traditional populations, and Indigenous Peoples.
Nossa Floresta, Nossa Casa was initiated in 2019 in eight Indigenous Lands in the states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso: Igarapé Lourdes, Kwazá do Rio São Pedro, Rio Branco, Rio Mequéns, Roosevelt, Sete de Setembro, Tubarão Latundê, and Zoró. It is coordinated by the Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative (ICGT-FT) - a PCAB implementing partner, with management and operations under the responsibility of Greendata – Socioeconomic and Environmental Management and Innovation Center.
With the arrival of new partners, one of the key lines of action will be to seek market expansion for value chains developed in Indigenous Lands. The project is working on developing commercial strategies, plus the maintenance and expansion of direct and indirect support and investment for Indigenous economic initiatives, while keeping a focus on capacity building for Indigenous governance of the lands.
After a series of codesign workshops held together with local Indigenous groups, açaí, Brazil nuts, cocoa, and handicrafts were defined as priority value chains. Currently, the work is being carried out through 68 initiatives involving 41 (formal and nonformal) organizations.
Covered area – The Indigenous Lands that are part of the Tupi Mosaic includes more than 21 Indigenous Peoples who speak 16 different languages.
The Mosaic gained new contours and concepts through inter institutional coordination. . It now includes the Tupi Guaporé Territory, with protected areas that exceed 5 million hectares, including Indigenous Lands and other protected areas. This expansion stems from engagement with organizations such as Imaflora (Origens Brasil manager), and two other local support organizations: Pacto das Águas, and Kanindé.
The area includes a large mosaic of interconnected protected areas, involving the Itenez-Mamoré-Guaporé Binational Ecological Corridor, the Tupi Mondé Ethnoenvironmental Corridor, and the Tupi Kwahiva.
The inclusion of Origens Brasil will also be an opportunity to strengthen two of the main pillars of Nossa Floresta, Nossa Casa: Indigenous territorial economic governance, and the connection with markets that add value to their production.
Nossa Floresta, Nossa Casa has three main components, built upon participatory analyses with the communities, and taking into account Indigenous economy.
They are: (1) strengthening Indigenous economic initiatives and developing socio biodiversity value chains, thus promoting income generation; (2) strengthening territorial economic governance, and promoting a reflection on the balance between inward Indigenous economy and outward market-based economy; and (3) engaging and connecting with commercial partnerships, respecting the principles of fair and ethical trade.
More information is available here.
