Pollinating Regeneration

Empower communities develop regenerative Projects

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Enabling indigenous & local communities transform their ideas into scalable projects – putting their interests, needs and aspirations at the project’s heart – to lead regenerative solutions strengthening communities involved, and valuing local culture and biodiversity.

We support projects led by communities, ensuring their buy-in, thereby delivering long-term social and environmental gains and leading a bottom-up movement for climate justice. The entire program is built in a relationship of trust and collective learning within the network of different communities from diverse biomes.

How we do that?

  • We share frameworks for ideations happening internally in the communities
  • We support the structuring of projects through capacity building and 1-to-1 mentoring 
  • We facilitate partnership pathways between experts from other communities and external partners
  • With partners support, we fund community-led projects based on our values.
  • We prepare spaces for exchanges between communities:

– In-person workshops
– Frameworks for participatory workshops
– Interviews of community leaders

– Online messages exchange groups
– Online meetings engaging all communities

Values

  • Impact Network: Creating a network with connections strengthening the communities.
  • Strong communities: We believe that strong communities are great change-makers!
  • Wellbeing: Communities with autonomy that define what wellbeing is for them.
  • Local biodiversity: Local species are the basis to strengthen and/or regenerate the biodiversity.
  • Living culture: We support culture connected to good living and local biodiversity.

Support this program!

Join the group of partners supporting this program and multiply the communities accessing this impact network!
Drop us a line at: hello@meli-bees.org

Projects 2023:

We’re supporting community-led projects in the Amazon, Cerrado & Atlantic Forest biomes:

Ma’eputyr (flower)

Guajajara youth leaders from the Arariboia territory promote regeneration in an integrated manner, with seed collection, seedling production, reforestation, meliponiculture and community networks.

Full project

Food for Good Living

Tupinambá/Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe leaders build a community kitchen to strengthen regenerative agriculture and environmental education in the Pataxó Hã-hã-hãe community.

Full project

Blossoming in the Dry Season

After numerous failed experiments with reforestation, the Frei Henri community seeks technical support in syntropic agriculture to guide regeneration in the centre of the arc of deforestation.

Full project

Stingless bee keeping in nature

The riverside community of Campo de Perdizes seeks meliponiculture to strengthen local biodiversity with the ecosystem services of native bees and the creation of new sources of income.

Full project

Traditional Farming & Community Network

Krahô leaders strengthen sustainable food production in their community by integrating traditional and syntropic farming practices with support of connectivity infra-structure.

Full project

Puk xop yã īy (longing the bees)

Maxakali elders miss the greater presence of bees in their territory. They motivate the rescue of biodiversity and culture related to these pollinators in the territories of their people.

Full project

Food Safety: School Garden

To strengthen food and nutritional security in the community, the Garden brings pedagogical work to rescue food culture based in the principle of collectivity and cultural strengthening of the Apurinã people.

Full project

Workshop on Stingless Bees

The São Tomé do Bracinho de Icatu quilombo community sees powerful partners in the native bees. Through meliponiculture, the group will protect the ecosystem services.

Full project

COOPSAFI

Community in the south-east of Pará developing agroforestry establish fruit pulp production. With this new livelihood tool based on biodiverse fields, the community will waste less of its production.

Full project

Mopó Itiveko: Honey house

To strengthen and amplify the activities already being developed by Terena teachers, enhancing both environmental and cultural regeneration. The project will also produce the traditional Kopenoty Syrup.

Full project

[More coming soon]

Project Leadership:

Jonas Guajarara

First agroecology technician of the Araribóia indigenous territory, Jonas takes care of native stingless bees and is passionated about the local biodiversity and culture. He is responsible for Meli's Hub at Arariboia indigenous land, including the Ma'eputyr project.

Jonas Guajarara

Ma'eputyr Project
Francisco Neto Guajajara

Francisco enjoys planting, keeping bees and making his people aware of the importance of preservation! Seeing the deforestation up close, today he plants to recover these areas. He works on the Ma'eputyr project in the Arariboia indigenous territory.

Francisco Neto Guajajara

Ma'eputyr Project
Olinda Tupinambá

Indigenous, journalist and filmmaker, her audiovisual highlights the fight of her people. President of the NGO Okara Kaapora, she's an indigenous defender, seeking the regeneration of nature and the promotion of sustainable practices in her territory.

Olinda Tupinambá

Food for Good Living Project
Samuel Wandeley

Anthropologist from Bahia, he was a researcher with indigenous people of the Brazilian Northeast, and remained supporting the Pataxó HãHãHãe people. Filmmaker, he works in environmental projects as director and manager of the NGO Okara Kaapora.

Samuel Wandeley

Food for Good Living Project
Reni Lourenço

Reni Lourenço

Flourishing Drought
Francisca Souza

Francisca Souza

Flourishing Drought
Ana Maria

Ana Maira lives in the Campo de Perizes community, Maranhão, and works in the local association in search of improvements to empower the community, the guarantee of residents' rights and a better future for all.

Ana Maria

Francisco Hyjnõ Krahô

Important community leader, he studies to be a pajé (shaman). Historian, president of the Krahô Territory and coordinator of Warriors to protect Krahô culture. He worked with agencies as Funai, IBAMA and the State. His life is dedicated to his people.

Francisco Hyjnõ Krahô

Traditional Farming & Community Network
Luzia Cruwakwyj Krahô

Krahô warrior, she's a teacher and works with other female warriors to preserve the cerrado (biome where the Krahô live), as well as cultural traditions, language, songs and games of the Krahô community. She's a strong advocate for indigenous women's rights.

Luzia Cruwakwyj Krahô

Traditional Farming & Community Network
Thiago Pereira

Thiago Pereira

Puk xop yã īy (longing the bees)
Manoel Damazio Maxakali

Manoel Damazio Maxakali

Puk xop yã īy (longing the bees)
Arnalda Maxakali

Arnalda Maxakali

Puk xop yã īy (longing the bees)
Kukuy Apurinã

Kukuy Apurinã

Food Safety: School Garden
Tainá Viana

Quilombola from the São Tomé do Bracinho do Icatu maroon community, she studies agronomy in the Federal Rural University of the Amazon and keeps her strong bonds with her community while supporting them develop regenerative activities.

Tainá Viana

"Tia" Francisca

Kamara Apurinã

Kamara Apurinã

Food Safety: School Garden
Vavá Áruak Terena

Indigenous of the Xomonó Terenoe people, Valdevino (Vavá) is an educator at the school of the community. For 5 years has been working in the intensification of the handling of native stingless bees Jataí (Xuli Xuli in the Terena language)

Vavá Áruak Terena

Yvoty Medina

Indigenous of the Guarani people, Yvoty is an educator, cultural manager, and PhD in Political Sciences. She supports the work of intensification of the handling of native stingless bees Jataí (Xuli Xuli in the Terena language) in the Limão Verde village.

Yvoty Medina

Mopó Itiveko: Honey house

[More coming soon]