An initiative has revealed the potential of the quilombola territory of the Gibrié de São Lourenço Community in Barcarena. By generating income and maintaining environmental preservation, the community members discovered in bees a great opportunity to unite two important attributes: a profitable business and sustainability. Thus, the Bees and Flowers Project was born, approved under the Sociobiodiversity axis of the Sustainable Connections Platform, promoted by the Hydro Sustainability Fund (HSF), to expand and acquire the necessary tools for the viability of economic activities.

The project is part of the community's strategy to generate supplementary income and combat socio-environmental impacts in the region, through strengthening the Gibrié de São Lourenço Quilombola and Indigenous Community Association in the routine of beekeeping, propolis production, fertilizer, and fruit, medicinal, ornamental, and tree seedlings in a nursery.

The project has already trained residents in meliponiculture, which is the breeding of stingless bees; produced over 700 kg of fertilizer, with a forecast of reaching 1000 kg by the end of the year; produced more than 600 seedlings of fruit, medicinal, ornamental, and tree plants, with the commercialization of these seedlings in the local market, and also the production of propolis. The association is responsible for the administration and distribution of sales profits.

For Vanda dos Santos, one of the plant nursery's managers, the participants' commitment has brought great happiness to everyone. "We are a family, here everyone has responsibilities, we have moments of unity and learning around our land. This here is my life, we will always protect ourselves and make our place better," she says.

"Most of the project participants are women, about 30 beneficiaries. In addition to potential for income generation, the project taught us to have more dedication to environmental preservation, improved the relationship among community members, and women feel more valued, with life goals, which wasn't the case before. The project exceeded our initial expectations and we will continue with it because it is bringing us profit and strengthening us as a community. We have the plant seedling nursery ready for commercialization and with constant preparation of new seedlings," says Josenite dos Santos, coordinator of the Bees and Flowers project.

About the Sustainable Connections Platform

The Sustainable Connections Platform is an initiative of the Hydro Sustainability Fund in partnership with the Partners for the Amazon Platform (PPA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Bioversity & CIAT Alliance, implemented by the Sustainable Barcarena Initiative (IBS). Hydro and Albras are the maintainers of the Hydro Sustainability Fund. In 2022, the Platform launched 15 new projects. The projects started between October and December 2022 and are in the finalization phase. In 2023, a new call was made, with seven projects selected. The investment in this new call will be around BRL 600,000.