Digital community network to help protect the Amazon

Valéria da Silva Lopes is a schoolteacher and speaks for rural workers in the Abril Vermelho settlement. Isabela Campos, a farmer, focuses on agroecological aspects affecting the Acará Acu community, and Irenilce Batista is the "cacica" or leader of the Indigenous community Vista Alegre do Capixauã. The women represent three of the nine communities taking part in Floresta Digital (Digital Forest), a project developed by DW Akademie and its Brazilian partner, Saúde e Alegria.

DW Akadamie: What have been major problems in your region? Have you been able to make any changes?

Valéria da Silva Lopes: Our settlement has been dominated by oil palm monoculture for the past 20 years, and agrochemicals have weakened the soil, vegetation and wildlife.  

The biggest challenge has been to reorganize the production process and to plant trees, fruit and vegetables that are native to the Amazon. Our goal is to establish a more responsible relationship between people and the environment. 

Irenilce Batista: We're an Indigenous community and are harassed by loggers and those who fish illegally. It's also been too dry here, we've had no rain, which means we could lose the Amazon if we don't preserve the forest. 

Communication used to be difficult but thanks to Saúde e Alegria we now have Internet access and have established a community-run tourists' inn. We've also built a nursery that involves the whole community and have reforested areas that had been cleared. 

Izabela Campos: Monoculture was a problem in our area, especially because companies were clearing land so they could plant acai palm trees. Our forestry group wants to bring back diversity and is reintroducing trees like the andiroba and marupa among the acai trees. 

We've already done this in some areas and by restoring diversity, we're contributing to the Amazon's well-being. 

What are still some of the challenges?

Da Silva: We're still competing with oil palm monoculture and policies that promote single-crop agriculture. It's also been difficult to transport our products, so we have to use intermediaries whose prices are often unfair or don't reflect the quality of our sustainable products. A solution would be to have a network that allows us to sell our products directly to other municipalities. 

Batista: Our focus is on community-run tourism and so we need the Internet to advertise events and offer better services to tourists. For example, customers don't usually carry cash with them and instead want to pay using Pix [an electronic payment system in Brazil] which requires an Internet connection. 

Campos: Introducing a sustainable forestry system involves costs such as buying seedlings, planting them and hiring labor. There's not an immediate return and it's not always a financial one. However, a positive return, for example, could be a greater variety of food or the strengthening of the environment. Still, this is a challenge because people focus on money, even if it endangers the quality of their lives. 

How can Floresta Digital help?

Da Silva: The network, of course, won't solve everything but it will help us inform people in neighboring communities about our activities. The Internet connection will help us to better and more independently communicate with each other.  

Batista: We'll have electricity and Internet access 24 hours a day. Young community members will be able to promote our work on social media and show customers the products we offer. The project and commitment of our youth will help us achieve much more than before. 

Campos: Many in this community and neighboring ones aren't aware of our work. So having access to information will be very helpful. We'll also be able to create accurate, well-produced content and use social media platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram to share our stories. I'm convinced that information is fundamental to changing how people think. 

Floresta Digital was developed by DW Akademie together with Saúde e Alegria. The project aims to improve connectivity in selected Brazilian communities and focus on their environmentally friendly initiatives. The project is funded by the European Union.