A2.0 BRAZIL HOLDS CAPACITY-BUILDING COURSE ON COMMUNITY LAND MONITORING

Between June 26th and July 1st, a capacity building course on community territorial monitoring was held for the monitors of the Chandless State Park, in Acre.

The course took place at the Park's support base, with the presence of 10 monitors and was delivered by the team from the consulting firm Catraia Soluções Ambientais, based on materials previously developed by A2.0 and the Pro-Indio Commission of Acre (CPI-Acre). The course focused on building the monitors' capacity to monitor pressures and threats and included theoretical classes on the use of the app Field Task and field practice with simulated monitoring. Concepts such as governance and territorial and environmental management were also presented and the film "The Law of Water" was shown, as a complementary activity of Environmental Education.

Photo: Luana Alencar, 2021.

The activity is part of the strategic integration of community-based monitoring actions in the Chandless State Park (PEC), carried out under the Technical Cooperation Agreement with the Acre State Environment Secretariat (SEMA-AC) and the project Integration of Protected Areas in the Amazon Biome (IAPA).

Both initiatives - IAPA and A2.0 - have as their area of intervention the Chandless State Park, where SEMA-AC runs the National Biodiversity Monitoring Programme (Monitora) financed by the Amazon Protected Areas Programme (ARPA), which makes the integration of actions appropriate.  During the course were also discussed topics on fish monitoring and the use of the app Ictio, focus of the actions of the project IAPA.

Photo: Luana Alencar, 2021.

As Luiz Henrique Medeireiros Borges, president of Catraia, and coordinator of Monitora in the Chandless since 2017, points out, "the course marks the kick-off of the partnership between the initiatives, which can bring more robustness to sampling designs, data collection and management, in addition to optimizing the logistical and operational effort of reaching isolated areas of the Park, where monitoring actions take place; finally, it strengthens the role of local community monitors".

Once this stage is concluded, the next step is to carry out the monitoring. The surveys will be carried out during the months of July to September, concomitantly with the sampling process of the biodiversity targets of the Monitora Program, for logistical optimization and greater effectiveness of action. Under A2.0, the intention is to monitor the main areas of high pressure from invasion, hunting and fishing. All monitors also received a smartphone with the applications installed.

Photo: Luana Alencar, 2021.

It is expected that the integration of the initiatives will strengthen participative monitoring actions in the Park, expanding the management of the territory and thus improving governance models and the flow of monitoring information generated; guiding, in turn, decision-making by the competent public agencies, including local income generation and the definition of advocacy strategies by the local community.