Project Detail

Cerrado Bees
Abelhas do Cerrado

This project aims at conservation of fauna and flora biodiversity conservation in the Bico do Papagaio region, in the municipality of Araguatins, state of Tocantins, through conventional and native beekeeping activities. The small farmers living in agrarian reform settlements will carry out these activities, in connection to reforestation of forest and fruit species having high medicinal and nutritional potential. The specific activities planned are: recovery and conservation of native and Africanized bee species; use the conventional and native beekeeping activities as a tool for education and conservation; use the experiences as a demonstrative unit for interchange with other organizations and communities; increase family income of the small farmers involved in the initiative; reduce the degraded Cerrado areas.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais de Araguatins - TO

Country:

Brazil

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

Phase 2

Grant Amount:

US$ 29,230.76

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 7,187.44

Project Number:

BRA/01/09

Start Date:

3/2001

End Date:

3/2003

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

20 families of settled small farmers will benefit directly from this project, while an additional 330 families in 4 neighboring settlements will benefit indirectly from the activities proposed. Participation in lectures will reduce the use of fire for the farming activities, given the need for standing vegetation for the success of the conventional and native beekeeping activities. Soil quality will be enriched through the reduction in the use of fire and reforestation, the threat to the bee species will be alleviated, and fauna and flora in the Cerrado will be conserved and increased. This will collaborate to the achievement of sustainable livelihoods for all.

Notable Community Participation

All of the proposed activities will have involvement and integration of the community members, who will contribute effectively toward the activities planned. From monitor qualification, to seed collection, seedling preparation, planting and bee collecting, to honey processing, community participation will be crucial to the achievement of the objectives.

Project Results

The following activities took place: technical monitoring of the beehives; collection of bees; progress evaluation meeting; training course on agroecology and agroforestry systems; purchase of materials for construction of bee houses (with funds from the sale of two cows); beekeeping course; product exposition in Araguatins; development of a complementary project; implementation of agroforestry systems; purchase of equipment and beekeeping material; monitoring of construction of the honey house; visit to the SGP Brazil Technical-Administrative Coordination, ISPN; plant nursery management course; lectures in schools; conclusion of the honey house, a wooden honey extraction site; regional beekeeping seminar. The activities are evaluated as successful, with the qualification and awareness and conscience building activities having created more environmentally sound alternatives for generation of income in the region. The group has become a reference for the reigon. The following activities were found in the execution of the planned activities: involvement of the women is still low; some wooden boxes used as beehives were abandoned, perhaps due to the kind of wood used; transportation of the boxes is difficult due to the distances; termite attacks; previously printed labels are not appropriate, not including different packaging sizes and weights, and not mentioning the native bee honey; difficulty of maintaining a collective nursery; the honey house does not fully comply with all federal regulations. Adaptation of a carriage to a motorcycle would assist in the bee collection, given the distances between locations in the project. Complementary projects have been submitted to different sources for manufacturing of appropriate labels. Direct planting, dispensing the nurseries has been analyzed as a solution to the problem of collective management. The main contribution this project has achieved is the change in the behavior of the local small farmers, who have begun to seek alternative for production and implemented a more balanced management of the local resources. Conservation of fruit and medicinal species found in the backyards is a both a priority and a good indicator of such a change in behavior. The beekeeping activity in and of itself implies conservation of the native vegetation for the production of high-quality honey.

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