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Increasing rural productivity, diversifying rural producers’ income sources, encouraging the participation of all different stakeholders and contributing to preserving biodiversity are among the connection points of the work carried out in practice, in real life, by students from ESCAS – School of Environmental Conservation and Sustainability, both from the Professional Masters in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development, and from the MBA in Social and Environmental Business Management.
ESCAS graduates are leaders in preservation and sustainability, who actively work to transform the socio-environmental reality all over Brazil. Check out six of these stories below, the results obtained so far and the next steps.
MATO GROSSO DO SUL STATE
Projeto Sistemas Produtivos unites field productivity and a positive impact on climate
Selected in two competitions, the Agroforestry Challenge (initiative of Fundo Vale and Reserva Natural Vale) and in the national round of ClimateLaunchpad – the largest competition for green business ideas in the world (held by ClimateLaunchpad with co-hosting of Climate Ventures, in Brazil), the Project Sistemas Integrados matches degraded pasture reform with the use of forestry and agricultural crops. This way, the benefits go beyond the social sphere, through the diversification of producers’ sources of income and reach the environmental sphere, reducing carbon emissions.
The project, developed by Pedro Nogueira, an ESCAS MBA alumnus, Thiago Nogueira, an ESCAS master’s student, and Alexandre Tozzo is in the Climate Ventures regional competition to be held at the second half of September. “More efficient production systems emit less carbon, mainly because of pasture reform and rotational pasture; this helps significantly in reducing carbon emissions. In our business model, the forest component – the inclusion of trees – and agricultural species also contribute to the fixation of carbon in the system. In this context, on balance, the system changes from being a carbon emitter to a system that fixes more carbon”, reveals Pedro Nogueira. The project, according to its partners, is fully adjustable with the different Brazilian regions and biomes.
ESCAS students’ projetc disputes the Agroforestry Challenge and ClimateLaunchpad
MINAS GERAIS AND SÃO PAULO STATES
Associação Ambientalista Copaíba develops studies for selecting the next forest restoration areas
The identification of priority areas for connectivity, with the most strategic actions for restoration and its costs are among the topics presented in Flávia Balderi’s master’s thesis at ESCAS/IPÊ – College of Environmental Conservation and Sustainability. Flávia is one of the founders and executive secretary of Associação Ambientalista Copaíba (Copaíba Environmentalist Association), located in Socorro, São Paulo State. Flávia’s thesis profile brings precisely the Association’s area of operation in 19 counties located between the Rio do Peixe basin, in the east of the São Paulo State, and the Camanducaia basin, in the south of Minas Gerais State.
“Based on this survey, we are going to contact the owners of priority areas for restoration and in this discussion all subject-matters will be important, such as ecosystem services and water conservation. For example, for those who work with tourism or production, we will try to use species that also add value to their properties in this regard; it is also a way of encouraging restoration to be made”, points Flávia Balderi.
ESCAS Masters graduate’s final product will strengthen the Copaíba Environmentalist Association
SOUTHERN-BRAZILIAN REGION
ESCAS graduate bets on a new model for building and sharing knowledge
Documentaries and short films developed by researchers together with drovers, quilombolas, fishermen, rural producers and young people reveal new paths in environmental education. “The result is not the delivery of the video itself, but the way we produce it along with the community, students and researchers. This is the focus of our business”, points Gustavo Arruda, MBA graduate at ESCAS and partner at ‘Rastro Ecologia Criativa’.
Among Rastro’s productions, after Gustavo completed his MBA, there is the short film Peixe das Nuves, by Pró-Pampa Institute. The video aims to share information about annual fish, also known as seasonal fish, highlighting the importance of habitat conservation, which includes the Conservation Unit’s protective boundary zone, where human activities are carried out. “The research wasn’t reaching reach the surrounding communities and most of the conflicts happened because of habitat degradation. With the video, we created a more sensitive and attractive dialogue on the subject for those communities”, explains Gustavo Arruda.
See how Gustavo transforms ecology, art and communication into environmental education
SOUTH OF BAHIA
Alumnus adapts business model in times of Covid-19
Changes in the scenario due to the pandemic accelerated some plans in the far south of Bahia where, nearly nine years ago, agronomist Jeilly Vivianne, a master from ESCAS, started a program with former coal workers who progressed on the path of Agroecology. “We planned to start working with basket deliveries in the second half of 2020, after the planting schedule, but with the suspension of fairs due the pandemic, we hasted the basket deliveries. We have more than 50 products ranging from fresh, to minimally processed and processed. From April to the first half of August, more than 1,100 baskets have been sold – more than 12.5 tons of food – in Teixeira de Freitas, Alcobaça and Guaratiba/Prado (BA) and Nanuque (MG)”, explains the graduate.
From charcoal to agroforestry: ESCAS/IPÊ master transforms social-environmental reality in southern Bahia
Program for farmers in southern Bahia contributes to the use of 100% of produced manioc
The masters graduate from ESCAS Jeilly Vivianne also works in the far south of Bahia in the implementation of “Farinheira Sustentável”, program which integrates the PAT (Territorial Action Plan) of manioc production, an initiative funded by resources from paper company Suzano’s PDRT (Rural Territory Development Plan) and support from PRODETER – Territorial Development Program from state-owned bank Banco do Nordeste.
Actions began with the need to adapt the flour companies. “In 2017, the Public Ministry received a complaint about the inadequate disposal of manipueira – liquid residue from pressing the cassava mass – which 25 times more pollutant than domestic sewage”, recalls Jeilly Viviane. 709 families are served directly by Jeilly’s team in the PDRT, and more than 3,000 have access to the content through PAT, with Mandiocast, the number of people impacted already exceeds the limits of local actions.
Master from ESCAS implements program that expands manioc use from 40% to 100%
PONTAL DO PARANAPANEMA
Master from ESCAS wins the Whitley Awards, the Green Oscar.
Gabriela Cabral Rezende, a master from ESCAS, is on the list of researchers recognized with the Whitley Award for their efforts in the conservation of the black lion tamarin species. The biologist is among the six winners of the Whitley Award 2020, from the Whitley Fund for Nature (United Kingdom). The Whitley is considered the world’s highest environmental conservation award, thus being called the Green Oscar. Master by ESCAS, the researcher competed with more than 100 other applicants for the award in a single category. In addition to the recognition, all six winners will receive a prize of £40,000 each to invest in their projects.
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Bancos de sementes são preciosos, em especial, em biomas como a Mata Atlântica, que conta com apenas 12% da cobertura original. “Estas árvores nos possibilitam estudar os processos de transformação e muitas vezes garantir a sobrevivência de algumas espécies. As sementes das árvores matrizes são coletadas pelos viveiristas comunitários. Nos viveiros da região, as sementes se transformam em mudas que são utilizadas para restaurar a paisagem de um dos biomas mais ameaçados do mundo. Com isso a gente garante a sobrevivência das florestas e de outros animais que dependem desse bioma para sobreviver”. 
Mais de 20 profissionais da 
Em 2020, com a Danone Brasil, implementamos uma fazenda modelo em silvipastoril. O processo aconteceu na Fazenda Gordura, no município de Guaranesia (Minas Gerais). O Projeto Flora: Acelerando a Adoção de uma Pecuária Sustentável com Treinamento Especializado no Brasil é uma parceria do IPÊ com a Danone em colaboração com a Escola de Estudos Florestais e Ambientais da Universidade de Yale e sua Iniciativa de Liderança e Treinamento Ambiental (Yale ELTI) e o Centro de Pesquisa em Sistemas de Produção Agrícola Sustentável (CIPAV), da Colômbia.
