Brasília, June 4, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - In the last ten years the Brazilian savanna ("cerrado") has obtained a new lease on life. Through a project implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), traditional communities in the region have begun to use the biome to extract their own sources of income and sustainable development. The project encompasses, for example, incentives for the breeding of wild animals, honey production, and the utilization of fruit, nuts, fish, and flowers.

Each year the PNUD distributes around US$ 500 thousand for training and financing the efforts of these savanna communities. To date 127 projects have received resources derived from donations to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). "It is still an experimental project, but with excellent results," assures Donald Sawyer, coordinator of the UNDP's Small Projects Program.

The project showcases communities such as the one in which Luceli Moraes Pio, a 41 year-old descendant of slaves, lives. Her grandmother taught her the healing powers of typical savanna plants. Among them, the tonka bean ("baru"), the courbaril locust ("jatobá"), and the purple tecoma ("ipé roxo"). In the community of Cedro, in the municipality of Minérios, Minas Gerais, medicinal plants have been part of local tradition for at least 150 years. "But only with the support of the UNDP project in the last five years were we able to take this tradition outside," Pio recounts.

The Cedro community produces as many as 500 units of syrup, dye, and pills. The sales don't just yield income, directly or indirectly, for the 150 inhabitants. With the returns from medicinal plants, the community has already built a library and a school. The population has also gained access to extension courses at nearby university centers. Pio has already participated in twenty such courses. "My next goal is to enter the Faculty of Biology," she reveals.

For the 33 year-old Mato Grosso do Sul resident, Rosana Sampaio, attending university does not represent a personal goal. It is a dream she intends to give her children. Sampaio lives in the Andalucia settlement in the municipality of Nioaque, Mato Grosso do Sul, and works at handcrafts and weaving. Her raw materials: souari nut, courbaril locust, and tonka bean trees, rice husks, and banana stalks. To transform this material into cloaks, scarves, and mats, the community received US$ 9.5 thousand (R$ 30 thousand) from the UNDP in a single year. The money is used to finance production and train the residents to practice sustainable extractive activities.

"In order not to degrade, we took various courses. We learned that we can't remove all that nature offers. The fauna and the proliferation of various species depend on it," teaches the weaver, who is now engaged in a new challenge: rural tourism. "Nowadays, a lot of people here already make a point of maintaining the tonka bean tree, for example, in the middle of their pastures. The community realized that it can receive many benefits from preserving nature."

Among the benefits is the Center of Production, Training, and Research, built by the community in partnership with the non-governmental organization Ecology and Action (Ecoa), responsible for administering the project in the region. "In addition to the knowledge, we have already achieved various individual victories with weaving," Sampaio commemorates. "Many women bought washing machines and cows. They were also able to improve their appearance, paying a dentist to take care of their teeth."

Reporter: Juliana Cézar Nunes
Translator: David Silberstein