Post by ERA's COO, Olivia Marques
Last week, I attended SOBRE (Brazilian Restoration Conference) for the first time and was impressed by how the event manages to bring together researchers, private and public companies, third sector organizations, indigenous peoples and native peoples in one place.
I was equally happy to meet many professionals in person that I had only known from online meetings. The conference was, without a doubt, a space for meetings and networking, especially during the various happy hours.
Of the many lessons learned during the conference, I will highlight my top 5 to share:
1️⃣ #conservation is cheaper. It seems obvious, but it is always good to remember.
2️⃣ There is a lot of talk about planting for #restoration, but often, natural or assisted restoration, which basically consists of removing disturbances from the area, is the most effective and economical strategy for restoring a given site.
3️⃣ Beware of imitations; they may be cheaper at first, but they will certainly become more expensive along the way.
4️⃣ Perhaps even more important than restoration is measuring and monitoring the #ecological, social and economic indicators.
5️⃣ There is a big difference between #education based on restoration and restoration based on education. While the latter involves in many ways the training for restoration, the former is about inserting restoration into the educational process, not only ecological, but also social restoration.
I will also mention here projects, people and teaching platforms that are worth following: @queronaescola project that connects public school students with volunteers who teach them what they WANT to learn; @e-campo Embrapa's teaching platform with several free courses; and @tiaosertao, passionate about the caatinga, who talks about: eating caatinga, planting water and irrigating with sun. Which to me sounds like poetry.
And last but not least, one of the most brilliant presentations I saw at the event was by Iran from the Xukuru Ororubá people, who spoke about the restoration of enchantment. It was beautiful to see and hear. ✨
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