Mejkangati

por Apenã

Originally published at Catarse.

Strengthening of Amazonian biodiversity: meliponiculture by Kayapós from the village Môjkàràkô

We have seen major impacts reaching our forests and the traditional communities closely linked to it. These impacts are not geographically limited, but affect the entire global community, making it a concern for everyone who cares about maintaining a healthy living environment on the planet. That’s why a lot of people at this point is asking themselves:

How can we contribute to the Amazon and support its traditional communities?

Let’s support projects developed in the region, strengthening the local community so that it can further protect the forest !!

The Kayapó community, or Mẽbêngôkre, as they call themselves, is a warrior people actively fighting for their traditional rights and territories. Today they have their land and are responsible for the conservation of a large area of forests and cerrado, which directly contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, as well as the maintenance of rainfall and climate throughout the planet.

In this struggle to protect biodiversity and reduce the impacts of global warming, bees, our beloved pollinators, are our partners and play a key role in managing our forests. These insects are indispensable in the pollination of fruit plants very important in the daily food of the Mẽbêngôkre people.

The Mẽbêngôkre therefore want to develop bee-related projects in their region. In the Amazon we find the stingless bees, called by the Mẽbêngôkre as Mejkangati, native to our country and producing valuable honey of very high quality, but unfortunately has been suffering from the loss of their habitat and the large use of pesticides in the region. We need to change this and ensure economic development that happens closely linked to environmental sustainability and social responsibility.

Thus, the forest guardians Mẽbêngôkre will have yet another positive environmental and social impact on their community. In partnership with the Federal Institute of Pará (IFPA) of Marabá, which has specialists in meliponiculture with extensive experience working with rural communities in the region. The institute will provide the necessary support for the Mẽbêngôkre to establish the stingless Mejkangati at the best possible conditions, integrated with the forest; It is also beneficial for the village as a whole, making this experience an example for indigenous communities throughout Brazil.

In order to be able to carry out this project, we need to fund a workshop on Stingless Bee Keeping in the IFPA and the indigenous travel / stay to participate in the course, as well as expert visits to the village and the acquisition of bee keeping materials (such as the boxes needed, suitable clothes to work with the bees, etc.). Because of that, we ask for your cooperation in this crowdfunding campaign.

Budget

To be able to develop the project we need to collect at least BRL 15.000,00 (about 3.260,00 EUR) to be distributed according to the chart.

The trips between the city and the Kayapó village (Môkàràkô) need to occur in 3 stages: in the first moment our team take a boat for a day from the Kayapó village to point of the river nearest to the closest city, from where a car is going to pick the team up and bring to the closest city (Tucumã), finishing the second stage of our trip. Lastly, there will be a trip of more than 400kms between Tucumã and Marabá, the city (still in the south of Pará) where is located the IFPA where the workshop will take place and from where the team will start the travel back to the Kayapó village.

If the funding happens to be higher than expected, we may be able give a stronger support to the project and to the indigenous association and even expand the experience.