- Nearly 150 Indigenous seed collectors from the Amazonian Bioeconomic Seed Network, the first of its kind in the state of Rondônia, traveled to neighboring Mato Grosso state to meet with Brazil’s oldest network of seed collectors, the Xingu Seed Network.
- In the absence of a government-led program, exchanges like these between existing grassroots groups have been the best way to help newer networks gain expertise and consolidate themselves as organizations, with technical training and management strategies.
- The seed collector networks are the base of the ecological restoration chain and will play an essential role in enabling Brazil to reach its goal of restoring 12.5 million hectares (30.9 million acres) of native vegetation by 2030 — vital in the fight to avoid climate breakdown.
- Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change says it hopes to implement a national plan of action this year aimed at filling the gaps in the restoration chain, by expanding forest cover, incentivizing certain sectors of the economy, and developing financial mechanisms.
NOVA XAVANTINA, Brazil — This past July, 15 Indigenous women made the thousand-mile journey from their home of Rolim de Moura, in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Rondônia, east to Nova Xavantina, in the state of Mato Grosso. They went as representatives of the 146 seed collectors from Reseba, the Amazonian Bioeconomic Seed Network, an organization founded in mid-2021 by members of the Aikanã, Gavião, Sabanê, Suruí, Tupari and Zoró Indigenous peoples. After a day on the road, they reached the region where the Amazon gives way to the Cerrado savanna, and met with Brazil’s oldest association of seed collectors, the Xingu Seed Network.
Such networks of seed collectors are a foundational part of the ecological restoration chain and will play an essential role in enabling Brazil to reach its goal of restoring 12.5 million hectares (30.9 million acres) of native vegetation by 2030, including 4.8 million hectares (11.9 million acres) in the Amazon and 2.1 million hectares (5.2 million acres) in the Cerrado. In the absence of a government-led program, exchanges between existing grassroots groups have been the best way to help newer networks gain expertise and consolidate themselves as organizations.
