Bio-diversity

largest area with continuous standing Cerrado vegetation in the country. The fragile economy of the region is based on extensive cattle raising and subsistence farming. The sandy soil is susceptible to erosion and not farmable and planting must take place in riparian woods and humid fields. Golden grass (Syngonanthus nitens) handicrafts are currently the main source of income for families, but rapid expansion of this activity could threaten sustainability, creating the need for identification and encouragement of new sources of income in the region. The project aims to consolidate initiatives for generation of income for communities in the reas surrounding the Jalap o State Park by means of Cerrado fruit use. Support comes in the form of capacity-building in associativism, good processing practices for food and packaging. The jalap o network was created to organize producers and originated from a project which received support from PPP-ECOS in 2006.

Brazil