Minister Marina Silva: “In 500 years, this is the first benefit-sharing fund for traditional communities”

Indigenous peoples, quilombolas, farmers, and members of traditional peoples and communities — men and women from rural and forest areas — gathered this past Tuesday (May 20) at the auditorium of Banco do Brasil’s headquarters in Brasília for the ceremony of the 1st Guardians of Sociobiodiversity Award, organized by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima/MMA).

They represented the 20 organizations recognized and awarded for their projects focused on protecting and sustainably using traditional knowledge associated with genetic heritage. Each organization received BRL 45,000, totaling BRL 900,000.

The funds represent the first disbursement from the National Benefit-Sharing Fund (Fundo Nacional para a Repartição de Benefícios/FNRB), created in 2015 but only made operational under the current administration. In addition, the organizations received a wooden trophy crafted by the Forest Products Laboratory (Laboratório de Produtos Florestais/LPF) of the Brazilian Forest Service (Serviço Florestal Brasileiro/SFB).

"This is just a small seed, but if there is a group of people who know what to do with seeds, it is the people here today, developing these projects," said Minister Marina Silva, highlighting the contribution of each organization in addressing the current global environmental crisis.

She made a point of emphasizing the importance of the National Benefit-Sharing Fund (FNRB), which made the award possible. “Now, in Brazil’s reality, after 500 years, it is the first time we have a fund to benefit those who protect the source of all other funds. Even though this is just a starting point, I hope that with the growing recognition of biodiversity and the rise of the socio-bioeconomy, this fund will be able to continue to expand and increasingly benefit the population — including by supporting them in the development of their projects,” she said.

The minister argued that ecology and economy must go hand in hand. “Only then we can truly say we have the first benefit-sharing fund aimed at traditional communities — so that they can generate more benefits, more protection, more knowledge, and more sustainable development, creating a new cycle of prosperity.

Carina Pimenta, MMA's National Secretary of Bioeconomy, acknowledged the role of the FNRB, which currently has BRL 11 million available for projects supporting guardian communities, and described the award as a historic milestone. “It inaugurates the cycle of fair and equitable benefit-sharing arising from access to genetic heritage and traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity in Brazil.”

Pimenta noted that, in the current context of climate emergency, “recognizing, valuing, and supporting the guardians of sociobiodiversity ceases to be merely an act of justice — it becomes a strategy for rebuilding our common future.”

Among the representatives of traditional peoples and communities, Iran Xukuru, 47, stood out with his distinctive headdress made of fabric and aroeira straw. He describes himself as one of the “guardian seeds” of the Indigenous people of Pesqueira, in the Agreste region of Pernambuco. With a total population of 2,500 families (12,000 individuals), his community produces bio-jewelry, dyes, medicinal oils, and bio-cosmetics —all derived from local plants.

“This award represents the Brazilian state’s recognition of our work. Being a guardian is a poetic act—it is the poetry of the cultivated land, sustainable forest management, sociobiodiversity, and traditional knowledge,” he inspiringly stated.

Ana Lúcia Rodrigues do Nascimento, 62, better known as Ana do Coco (“Coconut Ana”), from the Ipiranga Quilombo in Conde, on the coast of Paraíba, could hardly hide her joy at receiving the award. “This is the recognition of our culture, the culture of our ancestors,” she said.

In her community, made up of 137 families descended from enslaved people, Ana leads the Duá Biojewelry Women’s Group. Besides monthly performances of coco-de-roda — a traditional local music and dance — the group produces jenipapo liqueur, coconut oil, traditional batibutá oil, and (as the group’s name suggests) biojewelry. The organization also runs a quilombola museum that tells the story of the community’s people.

Lidejane Lopes da Silveira, 47, from the Ama Cantão Association located in the Cantão Environmental Protection Area (Área de Proteção Ambiental/APA), which covers nine municipalities in Tocantins, presented Minister Marina Silva with a kit of products made from Cerrado fruits.

The cardboard box covered with transparent plastic carried delicacies such as buriti oil and olive oil, vinegar, liqueur, cookies, and even a cappuccino made from jatobá and a sunscreen extracted from macaúba pulp. “All of this is the result of knowledge of nature, passed down for years from grandfather to grandson, from father to son in our community,” she explained proudly.

During the ceremony, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and Banco do Brasil signed the management contract for the FNBR.

Banco do Brasil also annouced its initiatives in the Credit Agents Program (Programa de Agentes de Crédito), developed in partnership with MMA, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Climate and Society Institute (Instituto Clima e Sociedade/ICS). The launch of the Floresta + Amazônia Call for Proposals was also announced.

The event was part of the celebrations for International Biodiversity Day, commemorated on Wednesday, May 22, and also marked the 10th anniversary of Brazil's Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge Law. The opening featured a video with testimonials from members of some of the organizations honored with the award.

Also attending the ceremony were Rita Mesquita, National Secretary of Biodiversity, Forests and Animal Rights; Edel Moraes, National Secretary of Traditional Peoples and Communities and Sustainable Rural Development at the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA); José Ricardo Sasseron, Vice President of Banco do Brasil; Vanderley Ziger, Secretary of Family Farming and Agroecology at the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Farming (MDA); and Cristiane Julião Pankararu, member of the FNBR management committee and representative of the guardians of associated traditional knowledge, among others.

See the list of the 5 winners in each category:

Indigenous

1st place – Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira/COIAB)

2nd place – Yarikayu Association

3rd place – Jupago Kreká Collective

4th place – Indigenous Association Tembiguai

5th place – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Nordeste, Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo /APOINME)

Quilombola

1st place – Quilombola Fishermen and Women’s Association of Graciosa (Associação de Pescadores e Pescadoras Quilombolas da Graciosa/APPQG)

2nd place – Camorim Cultural Association (Associação Cultural do Camorim /ACUCA)

3rd place – Quilombola Association of Native Seedling Producers and Organic Farming of Angelim II (Associação Quilombola de Produtores de Mudas Nativas e Agricultura Orgânica do Angelim II)]

4th place – Federation of Quilombola Organizations of Santarém (Federação das Organizações Quilombolas de Santarém)

5th place – DUÁ Biojewelry Women’s Group

Traditional peoples and communities

1st place – Association of Mangaba Fruit Pickers Padre Luiz Lemper (Associação das Catadoras e Catadores de Mangaba Padre Luiz Lemper /ACCMPLL)

2nd place – RAÍZES Collective

3rd place – Água Boa II Family Farmers Agroextractivists Cooperative Ltd. (Cooperativa de Agricultores Familiares Agroextrativistas de Água Boa II Ltda /COOPAAB)

4th place – Network of Associations of Users of Marine Extractive Reserves of Pará

5th place – Rural Community Association of Imbituba (Associação Comunitária Rural de Imbituba/ACORDI)

Family Farmers

1st place – Association of Agroextractivist Women of the Cantão Environmental Protection Area (Associação de Mulheres Agroextrativistas da APA Cantão /ASMUAGROEX)

2nd place – Ecological Cooperative of Farmers, Artisans and Consumers of the Mountain Region (Cooperativa Ecológica dos Agricultores, Artesãos e Consumidores da Região Serrana/ECOSERRA)

3rd place – Association of Rural Producers of Carauari (Associação dos Produtores Rurais de Carauari/ASPROC)

4th place – Association of Small Agroforestry Farmers of the RECA Project

5th place – Association of Rural Workers from the Patizal Village (Associação de Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras Rurais do Povoado Patizal/ATTRPP)