Dear donors,
In this last period between reports not much happed in the field and our project has no schools or visitors groups to show you due to these factors: 1. I was recovering from my illness that reduced my capacity of displacement, 2. This period now it is Holiday time for schools in Brazil and only in March they will retake classes, 3. In November, Valença city had elections for a new Mayor and as we work mainly with municipal schools, a new effort will have to be made to approach the new Education Secretary responsible and present to them our “Day in the Atlantic Forest” educational and ecological trekking program and propose a partnership, and 4. We were still very busy building the new facilities that are taking a much longer time than we expected to finish.
The Visitors Center, built partially with funds provided by the 2011 GlobalGiving/Neutrogena Wave of Change campaign prize, is practically finished and we are now furnishing it with chairs, benches and tables, cooking appliances, kitchen outfit and applying the finishing touches.
Just before Christmas we received a Jeep raid with 11 jeeps and about 30 participants that visited the Wildlife Sanctuary, the tree nursery, the agroforestry demonstration plots, the new Visitors Centre and were the first to seat at the tables we placed there for them. I am posting these pictures for you to see the building.
As the construction of the Visitors Center and other facilities at our base at the Concordia Mountains Wildlife Sanctuary are finishing, we are preparing and planning the 2013 activities that includes, beyond retaking our regular activities with schools and the agroforestry practices: 1. Create a new folder/ leaflet, 2. Expand our Day in the Atlantic Rainforest program to two other neighboring municipalities and 3. With these new facilities, start to give 2-5 days courses on ecology, environmental education, agroforestry and Permaculture at the Sanctuary.
The rainy season came back with little rain and we started to plant this seedlings. We have a stock of about 1000 in our tree nursery.
Please accept my sincere thanks for your help and support.
Roberto Lamego
Dear donors,
The new Visitors Centre is almost finished as you will see in the pictures and once ready, it will enormously help the reception of students that come for the environmental and educational “A Day in the Atlantic Rainforest” ecological trekking program. Visitors of our Atlantic Rainforest private protection area, people that come to our place that are interested in the Agroforestry and the Permaculture projects, and tourists will also benefit greatly of our new facilities. Important to remind that this new centre is being built partially with funds provided from GlobalGiving/Neutrogena prize.
Please see this presentation of the construction of this center step by step:
Schools continue to come and we received two during this period. Please slideshow of this visit, where they could visit the Visitors Centre at work:
Rains came back and we are preparing to plant our seedlings. We have a stock of about 1000 in our tree nursery and intend to by some more we Project funds.
You probably don’t know but because of the “Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil” project with GlobalGiving, I was considered an Architect of Change in 2010, as I was invited to participate of a Canadian/French worldwide TV series, in a program called Artisans du Changement, in English became Architects of Change. Architects of Change: “Is there a way that allows everyone to benefit from our planet's riches without compromising our resources for future generations? The answer has been given by men and women from all four corners of the earth who have succeeded in creating new models for economical development. They have gone new ways to achieve sustainable and lasting growth for mankind and our planet. They are farmers, chemists, architects, doctors, tradesmen and bankers. These Architects of Change are looking for and practicing innovative solutions which counteract the many threats to our future. Far from being political or economical militants, these Architects of Change are, above all, entrepreneurs. Our documentary series will be visiting this new kind of pioneers. They believe in a capitalism that can create social, economic and environmental wealth. They are not the only ones who promote such ideas, but they are the only ones who can prove that their ideas work out in day-to-day life.”
Here their page: http://www.architectsofchange.tv/television-program, my participation: http://www.architectsofchange.tv/television-program/towards-the-sustainable-management-of-forests#4;0 and episode resume: http://www.architectsofchange.tv/television-program/towards-the-sustainable-management-of-forests#0;0.
It was an honor to me to be invited for the series, and have to thank GlobalGiving and donors for all the support you have given me all these years.
I hope you enjoy our recent work, pictures and presentations and please accept my sincere thanks for your help and support.
Roberto Lamego
Dear donors,
Project “Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest” continues its activities and we are very happy to say that the construction of the new Visitors Centre is almost finished as you will see in the pictures we are sending with the report.
The new centre that is being built, partially with funds provided by GlobalGiving/Neutrogena, will enormously help the reception of students that come to attend the environmental and educational “A Day in the Forest” ecological trekking Program, of visitors of our Atlantic Rainforest private protection area and of the people that come interested in the Agroforestry and the Permaculture projects.
Today, all efforts are concentrated in finishing this building.
It’s has been a long way since we started building these new facilities and have men working at our base for one year and one month now, but finally we are finishing. (We built a house before the Visitor Center.)
As we are deep into the mountain and the forest and our road is very steep and wet, I can assure you that delivering building materials to the site during the rainy season was not an easy task.
Please see this presentation of the construction of this center step by step: https://picasaweb.google.com/110709315454919422487VisitorCenterStepByStep?authkey=Gv1sRgCNy35Y_Ik525TA
Since last report we have received two groups and a lecture was given to a State secondary school, during the World Environment Day activities. Please see attached pictures of the lecture.
The first group that visited the Serra da Concordia Wildlife Sanctuary was from a school of the Cambota community where we are working since last year and the other group was composed with members of this same neighborhood that where invited by our other GlobalGiving project "Provide Vegetable Gardens for Families in Brazil" that is working in the same area.
By the way, the vegetable gardens project is presenting to this community a new proposal which is to discuss with the neighborhood their future as citizens and what possible actions can be taken to prepare them for it. This new project is called: The vision of your future. What do you think about it? What can you do about it?
Please see here two slideshows of these visits:
Community group: https://picasaweb.google.com/110709315454919422487/CambotaNeighborhoodVisitsConcordiaMountainWildlifeSanctuary?authkey=Gv1sRgCP3Bke6y4NyVYA
On the agroforestry project I have to say that now is the dry period of the year so the all planting is stopped now. Unfortunately this year due to the constructions that occupied all our personnel most of the time we planted less than we pretended. The tree nursery is with a lot of seedlings waiting for the rain that comes at the end of the year to go to the ground.
I hope you enjoy our recent work, pictures and presentations and please accept my sincere thanks for your help and support.
Roberto Lamego
Dear donor and project friend.
This report is an addition to our recent March project update to show you on a slideshow the last school group that came to the Serra da Concordia Wildlife Sanctuary to spend “A Day in the Forest”, our ecological guided trail environmental educational program.
Enjoy this mountain tour as the students did.
And please be sure that all this is possible only because of your donations.
Thank you very much.
Roberto Lamego
Links:
Dear donors.
Project “Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest” is happy to share this information with donors and project friends.
With the Neutrogena donation, project 'Trees and Education Protect Rainforest in Brazil' surpassed its original funding goal of $60.000, it was considered fully funded.
A new funding goal was needed and the project budget was increased to $200.000 in order to maintain this project in GlobalGiving site and to continue to do the activities listed in the project’s page.
So, “Trees and Education Protect the Atlantic Rainforest” has a new funding goal of $200.000.
This project has already received through GlobalGiving since it started in 2006 around $105,000 and we expect to raise the remaining $95,000 in the next 5 years.
Since this project began we have already spent $37.000 in several activities and there is $24.000 in the bank, as a reserve to be used when needed.
Project’s Budget for 2012 is of $44.000
Build a Visitor Centre: $ 23.255
Equipments and furniture for Visitor Centre: $ 3.488
Bus rental for student’s transportation: $ 5.087
Educational DVDs: $ 1.162
Folders and brochures: $ 1.744
Hire a Permaculture technical advisor: $ 2.441
Saplings: $ 6.976
Total: $44.156
We are only considering expenses paid with donations funds. Most other project expenses, as salaries, petrol, etc., are paid by SALVEASERRA.
These new donations are already influencing greatly the development of SALVEASERRA - NGO and enlarging its horizons of future activities.
As you know, project has two main objectives that are: 1. The educational “Day in the Forest” ecological trekking, with schools and groups visiting an Atlantic Rainforest protection area and 2. The CETAR Agroforestry project created in 1995 to demonstrate agroforestry systems planting methods.
These donations will make possible to 1. Professionalize our local operations in Valença, Rio de Janeiro State and expand them to two other neighboring counties, Rio das Flores and Barra do Pirai allowing us to increase considerably the number of student we receive every month and 2. Facilitate the creation of a Regional Center of Excellence in Agroforestry, produce more saplings, and increase and ameliorate the plantation areas of trees, palm trees and fruit trees.
These grants will also enable us to produce a good quality educational support material, new brochures and DVDs.
Since last December update we continued our activities but in a slower way, because of students holidays, and as we had to rebuild our little house that was in very bad shape, almost falling and very dangerous for the workers that lived there.
Now we have a new and very nice house, big enough to shelter and house students and visitors while we build the new Visitors Centre, that already started be built.
Please see attached several pictures of the old and new house, the old visitor’s center and construction of new one, of Serra da Concórdia Wildlife Sanctuary visitors, from some students of a new school we are working with and that is going to do the “Day in the Forest” next week, from the 167 saplings this project bought from Antonio, that received a tree nursery from our other GlobalGiving project and from the tree nursery were we produced many and bought 1100 saplings this year.
Please accept my sincere thanks for your help and support.
Roberto Lamego
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
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