JBRJ researchers receive Amazon+10 Initiative award

The Amazon+10 Initiative has released the final results of the research proposals approved in the Scientific Expeditions call, launched in November 2023 by the National Council of State Research Support Foundations (Confap) and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Twenty-two projects were selected with a focus on expanding knowledge about Amazonian socio-biodiversity. Researchers from the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute (JBRJ) are part of the team behind four of the projects.

The JBRJ researchers and their projects are: Domingos Cardoso (vice-coordinator of the project “Tsiino Hiiwiida: Revealing multiple dimensions of plant and fungal biodiversity in the Upper Rio Negro”); Claudine Massi Mynssen (also a member of the Tsiino Hiiwiida project); Leandro Freitas (co-responsible for the project “UKRI-Brazil Participatory monitoring of traditional territories: digital platform for co-producing data on sociobiodiversity in Amazonian areas"); Marinez Ferreira de Siqueira (member of the project ‘AquaInvert-Amazônia: integrating science and local knowledge to learn about the biodiversity of aquatic invertebrates in high-altitude areas of the Amazon’) and Viviane Stern da Fonseca-Kruel (member of the project ‘Voices from the indigenous Amazon: Historical processes of sociobiodiversity facing the challenges of the Anthropocene’).

Researcher Charles Zartman (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA), coordinator of the Tsiino Hiiwiida project, emphasized that the proposal involves “a dynamic collaboration between traditional peoples, students, teachers and national and international researchers to expand botanical knowledge in the Upper Rio Negro of the Brazilian Amazon.” Researcher Domingos Cardoso also said: “Our project at Cabeça do Cachorro (or Tsiino Hiiwiida, in the Baniwa language) brings together science, technology and local knowledge to explore one of the most enigmatic regions of Amazonian biodiversity. This collaborative initiative, involving researchers and indigenous communities, seeks to document as yet unknown species of plants and fungi, promoting scientific discoveries and valuing traditional knowledge in one of the largest theaters of evolution in the Amazon.”

About the project “Participatory monitoring of traditional territories: a digital platform for co-producing data on socio-biodiversity in Amazonian areas”, JBRJ researcher Leandro Freitas explains: “In this proposal, coordinated by political scientist Nírvia Ravena from UFPA, we aim to develop a digital platform for recording and validating traditional Amazonian knowledge associated with biodiversity. The team of researchers and traditional communities from nine locations in three states of the Legal Amazon (AM, MA and PA) will work together, following a model of co-creation of knowledge, with the aim of registering and cataloging traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity in traditional territories. An innovative aspect of the project is the development of a digital platform using AI and operated on cell phones, which will allow traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity to be validated in its scientific dimension. We hope that this platform can be used in situations of dispute involving these social groups and market players who predatorily enter their territories.

JBRJ researcher Viviane Stern da Fonseca Kruel is part of the project that came first in the Initiative: “Voices of the Indigenous Amazon: Historical Processes of Biological and Sociocultural Diversity in the Face of the Challenges of the Anthropocene”. Coordinated by researcher Helena Pinto Lima, from the Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará (MPEG), the project aims to investigate Amazonian biodiversity and the historical and contemporary interactions of indigenous peoples with the environment in three highly relevant regions: the Xingu Indigenous Land (MT), the Alto Rio Negro Indigenous Land (AM) and the Kayapó Indigenous Land (PA). “These areas stand out for their ethnic, cultural and environmental richness, housing unique traditional knowledge that is deeply connected to their landscapes. Integrating the human and biological sciences with indigenous knowledge, the project seeks to document the socio-biodiversity of the Amazon, focusing on ancestral practices and contemporary innovations. Among the main actions are the mapping of little-known species, the characterization of landscapes using advanced technologies, the sharing of biodiversity knowledge with indigenous communities and the recording of changes caused by human activities over time. This collaborative approach aims to contribute to the conservation of the Amazon, as well as offering solutions to the challenges of the Anthropocene, such as climate change and the socio-environmental crisis that threatens the forests and the ways of life of indigenous peoples,” explains Viviane.

The director of the National School of Tropical Botany, researcher Marinez Ferreira de Siqueira, and her doctoral student Richardson Ferreira Frazão, are part of the proposal “Revealing the unknowns: epiphytes, insects and fungi associated with the tree flora of the floodplain in the Eastern Amazon” approved by Amazonia+10 2024. The proposal is coordinated by Embrapa Amapá researcher Dr. Marcelino Carneiro Guedes in partnership with the Amapá State Research Support Foundation. EMBRAPA-PA together with FAPESPA and EMBRAPA Agrobiologia - RJ with FAPERJ are also part of the proposal. According to the researcher, this participation will take place in the development of the sub-project “Diversity of pollinating native bees (Apidae) in floodplain forest areas in the Amazon River estuary between the states of Pará and Amapá.

 Marinez and Richardson are also responsible for modeling data on sustainable development with native bees in community territories for biodiversity conservation for a proposal approved in another call for proposals - CNPq/MCTI/FNDCT Call No. 19/2024 - Advanced Centers in Strategic Areas for Sustainable Development in the Amazon Region - Pro-Amazônia. The proposal entitled “Advanced Center for the Conservation and Recovery of Amazon Ecosystems - CAPACREAM” is coordinated with CNPq by researchers José Júlio Toledo, from the Federal University of Amapá - UNIFAP, and Filipe França, from the Federal University of Pará - UFPA and the University of Bristol (UK).