ANNUAL REPORT

1998

Green Fertilisation for the Recovery of Degraded Crops

In 1998, the Gaia Foundation was particularly concerned with establishing a more efficient and agile structure. To achieve this, several staff changes took place, in conjunction with a project of strategic planning. An obvious outcome of those changes has been the formation of a better-integrated work team, mirroring a more solid and homogeneous internal image of the foundation.

This has allowed us to give more emphasis to the promotion and advertising of our activities, with a more intensive contact with schools and partner institutions, as well as mass media companies.

In order to diversify our range of income sources, first steps were taken towards the creation of a product line to be put on the market, with a T-shirt available in 4 different colour options and 2 different styles.

Environmental Education and Institutional Promotion at the Parcão in Porto Alegre in co-operation with the Pro-Saber School.

The Foundation president José Lutzenberger has devoted much of his time and effort to promoting healthier agricultural practices and clarifying the risks posed by the globalisation process to the environment and society. Part of this work was represented by his participation in local events and two large international events. In addition, he wrote an article entitled ‘The Absurdity of Modern Agriculture’. He also forwarded his positions concerning the use of genetically modified products to the National Technical Committee of Biological Safeguards, as well as signing a special feature article in the ‘Gazeta Mercantil’ newspaper addressing the issue of nuclear power.

As you will see, the Gaia Foundation has made a number of improvements to its rural headquarters – the ‘Gaia Corner’, which to our satisfaction has been consolidated as a reference centre for education and information in sustainable development practices.

The following pages will give you more information on the Gaia Foundation projects and consultancy work.

In line with our goal of providing facilities for courses and events and developing agricultural and landscape planning activities of experimental and demonstrative scope, the ‘Gaia Corner’ hosted a record number of visitors this year, with approximately 870 people, compared to an yearly average of 500 visitors in 1996 and 1997.

We also had two trainees from Porto Alegre, Brazil and Ecuador, as well as three Germans and one South African, who started their internship last year. Anke Dietsch, from Germany rewarded us with a beautiful prop of the ‘Gaia Corner’ and Melissa Halloway, from South Africa, prepared an excellent global report, whose copies can be obtained from our Porto Alegre office.

The sales of eggs and milk have showed little improvement, and our production has stabilised at 50 eggs/day and 50 litres of milk/day.

We have been selling piglets and we have been aiming at a drastic reduction of the number of sows, now limited to 4 animals, keeping a subsistence production level that will allow us to offer pork to our visitors and during our courses. Costs for animal foodstuffs have increased considerably due to a reduction in soybean and corn crops in the state, while the amount paid for the animal ranges at R$ 0.90 per kg. However, we have reduced our dependence on industrialised foodstuffs by continuing to use water lilies, fresh pasture and sugarcane as a food supplement for our pigs.

Salad for pigs: water lilies.

The production of vegetable and fruit can be considered reasonable. We should mention the fact that our production of figs and citrus fruit is now processed into preserves and jam, which are sold or consumed locally.

The kitchen garden was moved to a site closer to the houses of the complex, thus facilitating the use of its products in the local cooking.

We have also made a study to identify local ornamental plants that could be marketed and started to greenhouse them in a larger scale. We are planning to open a sales outlet for these plants at the ‘Gaia Corner’ in 1999.

The exotic beauty of ornamental plants at the ‘Gaia Corner’ catches your eye.

We finished 1998 with 22 heads of cattle, 106 pigs, 10 honeycombs and 348 birds, including 3 wild ducks and 8 geese.

Several improvements took place at the ‘Gaia Corner’ in 1998:

Ä The new stable was completed, with only finished touches to be made, such as the electrical power supply and the rodent control system.

New stable under construction.

Ä The new greenhouse for insectivorous plants was completed, with a sales outlet for ornamental plants near the collective house.

View of the insectivorous plants greenhouse.

Ä The milking machine was assembled in the old stable.

Ä A new greenhouse was built

Ä The platform for the installation of a 3-phase pump was built. In the future, 2 hydrants with a firefight hose will be placed between the residential houses and the collective house.

Ä A solar drier for medicinal herbs was built.

Ä Our gardening activities were started with the excavation of a lake in the residential area.

Lake next to the houses – another beautiful spot at the ‘Gaia Corner’.

Ä The flow of rainwater was controlled with the construction of ‘regulatory boxes’ and shackles

Ä The underground pipeline for telephone and electrical cabling from the collective house to Lutzenberger’s house was completed, and several connection and distribution points were built to allow the construction of additional houses in the village.

Ä A shelter for the chicks was built.

Ä The bridge to the stable was renovated, with wooden parts being replaced by concrete.

Ä The electrical wiring was inspected, the septic tank and swallow-hole were renovated and the chinaware in the collective house was replaced.

Ä The straw roofing of the old stable was renovated.

Ä The pumping capacity of the windmill was increased by 300%.

Ä The ‘mataburro’ (gate that blocks the passage of animals) was reconstructed and some walls were erected at the entrance of the ‘Gaia Corner’.

This project was funded by the German organisation Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung and encompassed the following aspects:

Ä The training of farmers as promoters of regenerative agricultural methods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Ä An effective spread of regenerative practices and

Ä The recovery and preservation of the diversity of traditional crops.

The recovery of primitive farmers’ and indigenous seeds of different kinds enlarge and guarantee biodiversity in crops.

The project offered 4 modules of the course of Training for Agroecological Promoters, approaching issues concerning vegetable gardening and ecological cultivation, as well as aspects of communication in a rural environment, public speaking and overcoming inhibition. The choice of addressing the latter aimed at improving the farmers’ performance as speakers or panel members in symposia and courses on ecological agriculture. In fact, it is worth mentioning here that several farmers have organised their actions and are giving lectures on regenerative agricultural practices. One result is that the area cultivated in accordance with ecological practices in assisted properties has been expanding gradually.

A farmer’s daughter absent-minded participation in a meeting of ecological agriculture promoters in one of the training modules

We have made heavy investments in the promotion of large-scale regenerative agricultural practices through specific reports and articles in newspapers and magazines, in combination with political awareness and mobilisation in key issues such as genetically modified soybeans, the program of eradication of citrus fruit canker, the family agricultural industry, the establishment of new ecological fairs and the enactment of new legislation controlling organically grown products.

In November, we received the visit of Ms Ulrike Hössle, co-ordinator of the Foreign Affairs Department of Heinrich- Böll – Stifftung. In this visit, she had the opportunity to observe the work we develop in some properties assisted by this project.

It was with joy that we were informed that HBS approved both the reallocation of previously approved resources in several different areas of our budget and an additional grant that would allow us to conclude the project by December 1999, or even March 2000, if necessary. As our 1997 Annual Report mentioned, the lack of resources funding had seriously jeopardised our chances of completing this project according to our original plan.

Susana, Lutzenberger, Katia and Beth, Lara, Wolff, Marcia and Ricardo with Ulrike (in red, in the centre of the picture)

In order to carry on with our actions in the promotion of regenerative agricultural practices after the year 2000, we are expecting to offer our services on a fee basis and we have started to develop a project that associates regenerative agricultural practices and the integrated planning of rural properties. This project will be submitted to the European Community – DG VIII with the support of the British organisation the Gaia Foundation.

¤ Environmental Education

In April, 1998 our new project of environmental education: ‘Environmental Education at the Rural HQ of the Gaia Foundation – the ‘Gaia Corner’ and at a Rural Settlement of the Landless Farmers’ movement in the state of Rio Grande do Sul’ was granted approval by the BUND – Bund für Unwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V.. With the financial support of BUND and the private contribution of an English collaborator, we committed our efforts to developing these activities of environmental and social awareness raising by this December. We are working with the prospect of carrying on these initiatives with funds collected from paid activities at the ‘Gaia Corner’.

There was a great boost to the promotion of the work developed at the ‘Gaia Corner’, with noticeable results in an increasing number of visitors. In 1998, we had 25 guided tours, most of which were offered to teaching institutions from the Pantano Grande region and Porto Alegre.

Alexandre de Freitas guides a group of young visitors at the ‘Gaia Corner’.

The environmental education team co-ordinated the following courses at the ‘Gaia Corner’:

Pictures of Nature: 10^th - 11^th January

Environmental Education Course: 17^th – 18^th January.

Wormcomposting: 21^st – 22^nd March

Production of Phytocosmetics and Phytotherapeuticals: 9^th May

Medicinal Plants: 13^th – 14^th June

Seminar: The Holistic Approach to The Natural Environment (for UNIPAZ trainees): 20^th – 21^st June and 17^th – 18^th October

A Basic Course on Environmental Education: 7^th and 8^th November

Environmental Law in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (event hosted in co-operation with the Brazilian Bar Association – OAB): 12^th – 13^th December

The following courses were offered at other venues:

Environmental Education Course promoted by SENAC – The National Service of Commerce – held in the cities of São José do Norte and Rio Grande / RS, 26^th – 29^th October

We also had a group of apprentices taking part in a supervised experience at the ‘Gaia Corner’ from 28^th January to 8^th February.

In addition, we would like to highlight the Ecological Fair at the Moinhos de Vento Park, held jointly with the Pró-Saber School in Porto Alegre on the 3^rd of October. This promoted an educational opportunity for awareness-raising activities and sale of products from the Gaia Foundation and women from the Integração Gaúcha Settlement.

In the settlement, we sought to establish an environmental focus through awareness raising of the importance of preventing sources of disease through hygiene, the correct treatment of waste and the conservation of water sources.

We have achieved very positive results despite facing some difficulties in the implementation of ecological solutions due to the lack of financial resources of the settlers. More straightforward practices, however, such as boiling water before household consumption and the selection of waste had widespread response. An important achievement was the establishment of an internal committee responsible for fostering discussion on environmental issues in the several opinion forums in the settlement, as well as the joint organisation of a seminar on health issues (scheduled for 1999). This closed the cycle of debates and lectures offered on this topic.

For 1999 we are envisaging an action plan that encompasses the continuation of the guided tours programme and other educational activities at the ‘Gaia Corner’ and the first edition of a training course of permaculture, which will be an addition to our environmental education course and our alternative course programme. We will also endeavour to sign consultancy contracts on environmental awareness raising with other institutions.

Farmer women play an active role in the manufacture and sale of agricultural products such as sweet loaves, bread and cakes.

The project supported by BUND was finished in December 1998, but the timely arrival of a new source of income from the activities developed at the ‘Gaia Corner’ in this period and careful savings allowed us to keep our team for 6 months more, which bought us time to find funding new alternatives to carry on with this process.

After the conclusion of ‘Studies of Evaluation and Definition of Parameters and Indicators of Biodiversity in the Forest Areas of RIOCELL’ in 1997, with studies in four different forest areas for the evaluation of biodiversity for reptiles, amphibians, birds, vegetation and mammals, a set of reports with recommendations on the handling, conservancy, and the proposal of a pilot program for biodiversity monitoring to be applied to other areas was made.

This study had a very positive impact at RIOCELL, with huge internal repercussion. The forestry department of the company is already studying how to implement the handling recommendations proposed to the present work practices.

The last few months have been spent on discussions concerning the continuation of the work under progress. The company has shown interest in implementing a permanent monitoring plan in the areas already studied. The idea is to concentrate research on one forest area every year on a rotation basis, so that each area is studied again every four years.

The consultancy contract signed with CORSAN, which started in January last year, has focussed on the treatment of domestic waste. Lutzenberger has made suggestions concerning improvements and adaptations to be made to existing conventional systems. These suggestions were implemented in the cities of Torres, Capão da Canoa and Santa Cruz do Sul. However, we have met with little enthusiasm in implementing these proposals, since most works were devised following conventional systems, and the funds available are limited to current project specifications.

On the other hand, Mr. Lutzenberger’s personal assistance to this company has aroused interest in other issues, such as environmental education and the adequate management of compensatory reforestation in the works made by CORSAN. Requirements put forward by FEPAM and DRNR have caused CORSAN to implement the Roda D’Água (Waterwheel) Project this year in order to address these issues.

The contract of environment consultancy signed with the State Government of Amazonas, in effect between April 1997 and December 1998 allowed us to give direct assistance to Governor Amazonino Mendes and also to develop a number of activities in the agricultural and basic sanitation fields.

We have established a multi-institutional group with representatives of the main state and national bodies involved in the study of agricultural and agrarian issues, including the University of Amazonas, for co-operation in the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices.Together, we have been directly assisting two rural settlements of small farmers to give them orientation in their activities and to give them training in forest agricultural and permaculture systems.

Tarumã-mirim settlement. In co-operation with INCRA, we have assessed its impact in the local ecosystem and drawn up a plan of environmental control.

We have started an experiment with EMBRAPA that should come to conclusion in June 1999. It is a comparative analysis of the results obtained in the treatment of fungal disease in the banana tree (black sigatoka disease), with different types of chemical treatment and the use of humus and dead coverage for soil improvement and the application of biological fertiliser to the foliage.

Cláudia Steiner and Raimundo: giving orientation on regenerative agricultural practices to a banana farmer.

In the field of sanitation, we co-ordinated with the state government a detailed study of industrial waste production in the state and we are now trying to assist COSAMA in the renovation of sewage treatment plants in the capital city of Manuas.

In order to allow us to continue with these projects and to open the door to new opportunities in the Amazon region, we have been preparing detailed projects that will be presented to the State Government of Amazonas and local, national and international bodies.

The year of 1998 was a year of professional growth for the Gaia Foundation. We managed to maintain our internal structure and develop several projects.

Left to right: Wolff, Lara, Carla, Franco, Marcia, Suzana and Helena, Liége, Lilly, Deniandro and Silvana: the Gaia Foundation Collaborators

However, we also ended the year with the end of two of our main contracts and financing agreements: The State of Amazonas Consultancy and the Project of Environmental Education funded by the German organisation BUND.

Our greatest challenge for the year of 1999 is to generate new conquests that will allows us to guarantee more effective actions in the promotion and specially, the consolidation of a healthier world in the new millennium.