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Trabalhadores abastecem sacos que eram levados para o helicóptero da PRF para ação de semeadura aérea em Guarapuava (PR) - Foto: MST PR
The Fernando de Lara Encampment, in the town of Quedas do Iguaçu, was one of the communities in the state of Paraná that benefited from the aerial sowing of juçara palm seeds on the first day of this year's Nature's Journey, on Monday (3). Raquel Viana de Araújo lives in the encampment and was touched by the power of contributing to the airdropping of seeds using a Federal Highway Police helicopter.
“It was a memorable day because I was sowing juçara palm trees in the reserve. It’s amazing to be here making part of a historic moment amid so many environmental disasters. [It’s amazing] To contribute to environmental recovery."
Watch below the airdropping of seeds (audio in Portuguese):
In the legal reserve areas of the Celso Furtado Settlement and nearby communities like that where Raquel lives, 4,000 kilos of juçara palm seeds, considered to be “the açaí of the Atlantic Forest," have been sown. The species, which is threatened with extinction, was one of the reasons for the movement to create Nature's Journey last year in Paraná.
"As I was given a plot of land where we still have a certain quantity of juçara palm trees, I felt obliged to do something for this species. So, from the first year since we started harvesting the juçara palm fruit to extract the pulp, we started sharing the seeds with neighbors, friends, who sow them,” says Josué Evaristo Gomes, from the Dom Tomás Balduíno pre-settlement.
"We realized that going through this pulping process breaks the plant’s dormancy. After two weeks, the seeds are all germinating. This makes it easier for people to take and sow them because you can see the results straight away."
The event has also spread to other locations in Brazil, but the state of Paraná held the second edition of its Environment Week with the slogan “Sowing life to confront the environmental crisis.” Bruna Zimpel, from the national leadership of the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST, in Portuguese), highlights the importance of the journey.
"We understand that what is happening in our country, both in periods of no rain and heavy rain, including the floods that have been happening [in the state of Rio Grande do Sul], are the result of the environmental crisis caused by the capitalist system, which exploits and destroys nature. That has led to the climate crisis we are experiencing. So, we understand that this kind of action is necessary not just this week, but throughout the year,” Zimpel said.
The initiative is part of the National Plan for Planting Trees and Producing Healthy Food. The MST launched the project in 2020 to plant 100 million trees by 2030. In this edition, we visited the 67-hectare area covered by the aerial sowing of juçara palm in 2023.
The seedlings are, on average, 14 centimeters high, according to researchers from the Federal University of the Southern Frontier (UFFS, in Portuguese) who are analyzing the first results of the sowing. “Where we've seen seeds fall, they've germinated. They're highly concentrated,” says Julian Perez-Cassarino, a professor at UFFS.
"We estimate that if we keep 10% of these seedlings in the forest, we would have an average of five tons of pulp per hectare. For BRL 20 (US$ 3,8), that would generate BRL 100,000 (about US$ 19,000) per hectare per year. And it would happen through enriching the forest, attracting fauna, allowing the recovery of other species and harvesting only the juçara fruit,” says Perez-Cassarino,” says Perez-Cassarino, smiling.
“People knew the juçara palm tree for its heart of palm, which means trees are cut down. When we collect its fruit, we don't cut down the tree, and we use the seed to sow more,” adds the professor.
Also in a part of the area where seeds were sown a year ago, juçara palm trees are growing, sharing space with pine trees, says MST farmer Itacir Gonçalves Helminski. He draws attention to the preservation of biodiversity, which is often affected by monoculture.
"This contrast is very important for us: knowing that this is a new era, a new stage for us, from monoculture to biodiversity. In each red ribbon like this one, just in an area of 1m², we have three, four, five seedlings or more of the juçara palm,” says the farmer.
"Soon, this pine straw will disappear and make room for this rich plant, the juçara palm, which provides food for more than 100 species of birds and animals in the Atlantic Forest, in addition to feeding us, human beings."
Pinhão and Juçara in Indigenous Land
As in Quedas do Iguaçu, a Federal Highway Police helicopter was used to sow seeds of pine nut and juçara palm in Nova Laranjeiras, also in the state of Paraná. The seeds were sown on Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land.
In all, during Nature's Journey, the Federal Highway Police contributed to the sowing of 12 tons of seeds. Fuel costs for the flights were paid for thanks to sponsorship from Caixa Econômica Federal, one of Brazil's state-owned banks.
"I feel very honored and proud to be here in an activity different from our day-to-day work. This aircraft was purchased with funds earmarked for these activities, funds from the Ministry of Justice's Fund for Diffusing Rights. Therefore, to be able to use it in this activity makes us happy,” says Federal Highway Police commander Juliano Kunen, who comes from a family of farmers.
He interacted with Indigenous children after another officer explained how the aircraft worked. Still at Indigenous land, the caciques (the Portuguese word for Indigenous leaders) handed over a letter to federal representatives who attended the event, such as Minister Sônia Guajajara, with their demands.
"We face a lot of difficulties in education, health, and agriculture, in many ways. So, it was put on paper for the minister to take and study to decide what can be done for Paraná. It wasn't just for the Rio das Cobras Indigenous Land, but written by caciques from all over Paraná, with many demands for her [Sônia Guajajara],” says cacique Ângelo Rufino.
In Guarapuava, more than 3,000 kilos of araucaria seeds were dumped in the Nova Geração settlement last Wednesday (5), World Environment Day. A march by landless workers was held before the aerial sowing, and activities were also carried out in the town of Pinhão, also in the state of Paraná. On Friday (7), the Journey ended in Antonina. In all, the initiative planned to plant 17,000 seedlings over the four days of the event.
In addition to the Federal Highway Police, representatives from different agencies such as the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA, in Portuguese), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA, in Portuguese), the National Supply Company (CONAB, in Portuguese) and the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Natural Resources (Ibama, in Portuguese) attended the days of Paraná’s Nature’s Journey.
"I think the slogan of this year’s journey is quite appropriate: sowing life to confront the environmental crisis. We're sowing millions of seeds, dozens of tons, and I think this is the way forward,” says Ralph Albuquerque, Ibama's superintendent in Paraná.
“People’s movements are showing us, once again with their banners, a way of possibilities for these crises, which is not just a climate crisis: it's a civilizational crisis, another crisis of capital,” concludes Albuquerque.
All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced, provided it is not altered and proper credit is given.
All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced, provided it is not altered and proper credit is given.
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"Upon arriving to Brazil my expectations were to meet open hearted people, encounter a unique culture, and see famous landmarks and beaches. While all of these things proved to be true, my exchange experience surpassed what I imagined in the most remarkable ways."
Mia traveled all over Brazil-- touring Brasilia, Curitiba, her homestay in Guarapuava, and Rio de Janeiro.
The group's destinations included a variety of schools and social projects, sustainable farms, a German colony, an indigenous community, and beautiful natural landscapes.
Mia sums up her experience by saying, "I still think about the program at some point every day. Before my exchange, during my exchange, and even now, I never expected my life to change so dramatically. I never imagined that I would be able to connect so quickly and so powerfully with my fellow YA's, my host family, and everyone I met along my journey.
"My life gained focus, indescribable passion, incredible friendships, and a confidence that I can create positive change in the world. This experience allowed me to grow as a person and leader, and I feel part of a global community. More than anything, I didn't realize how much this program, the country, and the people of Brazil would start to shift my internal wheels and point my life in the direction I'm going in now."
For Mia, the impact of this program didn't stop upon returning home. She was granted the opportunity to work on developing an International Youth Ambassadors Network as well as attend two Summits-- a YA Summit in Panama, and a Global Summit for Youth Volunteering in Colombia.
"To anyone who wishes to participate in a program similar to this; aim to see opportunities even when you think they are non-existent, aim to find common ground even when you think you're helplessly floating in the sky, aim to cross bridges even when you think they haven't been built, and above all else, learn from the stories that are being woven around you. I will never forget how Brazil: the country, culture, and people, jumped out at me, pulling me in as if never to let me go."
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote friendly and peaceful relations. We accomplish this mission through academic, cultural, sports, and professional exchanges that engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and rising leaders in the United States and more than 160 countries.
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Coordinated by the Youth Mission Animation (AMJ, in Portuguese), a missionary volunteer project with teenagers from the BPA Province, the large team of "missionaries," divided into smaller groups, visited as many as 1,631 families in different stages during the period July 10-27, bringing them enthusiasm, joy and a witness of Christian life.
ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.
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A series of massive volcanic eruptions wiped out half of life on Earth 200 million years ago, according to new research.
Scientists examining evidence around the globe from the United States to North Africa say they have linked the abrupt disappearance of half of the world's species 200 million years ago to a precisely dated set of gigantic volcanic eruptions.
The mega eruptions may have caused climate changes so sudden that many creatures were unable to adapt - possibly on a pace similar to that of human-influenced climate warming today, according to the researchers.
The extinction opened the way for dinosaurs to evolve and dominate the planet for the next 135 million years, before they, too, were wiped out in a later planetary cataclysm.
In recent years, many scientists have suggested that the so-called End-Triassic Extinction (ETE) and at least four other known past die-offs were caused at least in part by mega-volcanism and resulting climate change.
However, they were unable to tie deposits left by eruptions to biological crashes closely in time.
Now the new study provides the tightest link yet, with a newly precise date for the ETE - 201,564,000 years ago, exactly the same time as a massive outpouring of lava.
Co-author Paul Olsen, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has been investigating the boundary since the 1970s, said: 'This may not quench all the questions about the exact mechanism of the extinction itself.
'However, the coincidence in time with the volcanism is pretty much ironclad,'
Lead author Terrence Blackburn used the decay of uranium isotopes to pull exact dates from basalt, a rock left by eruptions.
The basalts analyzed in the study all came from the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), a series of huge eruptions known to have started around 200 million years ago, when nearly all land was massed into one huge continent.
Previous studies have suggested a link between the CAMP eruptions and the extinction, but other researchers' dating of the basalts had a margin of error of one to three million years.
The new margin of error is only a few thousand years - a blink of the eye, in geological terms.
Blackburn and his colleagues showed that the eruption in Morocco was the earliest, with ones in Nova Scotia and New Jersey coming about 3,000 and 13,000 years later, respectively.
Fossils show that heat-sensitive plants especially suffered; there is also evidence that the increased CO2 caused chemical reactions that made the oceans more acidic, causing populations of shell-building creatures to collapse.
There is also some evidence that a large meteorite hit the earth at the time of the extinction, but that factor seems far less certain.
A much stronger case has been made for the extinction of the dinosaurs by a meteorite some 65 million years ago - an event that opened the way for the evolution and dominance of mammals, including man.
The End Triassic was the fourth known global die-off; the extinction of the dinosaurs was the fifth.
Today, some scientists have proposed that we are on the cusp of a sixth, manmade, extinction.
Explosive human population growth, industrial activity and exploitation of natural resources are rapidly pushing many species off the map.
Burning of fossil fuels in particular has had an effect, raising the air's CO2 level more than 40 per cent in just 200 years - a pace possibly as fast, or faster, than that of the End Triassic.
Blackburn said: 'In some ways, the End Triassic Extinction is analogous to today.
'It may have operated on a similar time scale.
'Much insight on the possible future impact of doubling atmospheric CO2 on global temperatures, ocean acidity and life on earth may be gained by studying the geologic record.'
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The German Purity Law of 1516 already proves that the mixture of hops
yeast and water guarantees good taste and made beer famous worldwide
This is where one of the world's largest green field malt production plants is currently being built
A cooperative made up of several companies
is relying here on the technologies of plant manufacturer Zeppelin Systems
based on the know-how to supply complete plants for malt production for more than one decade
Brazilian beer consumption is growing by 3.5 percent per year
Yet Brazilian consumers already drink beer brewed from 1,75 million tons of malt per year
the country has imported more than a half of the barley for malt production from abroad
The rising demand for beer and thus also for malt and barley therefore requires not only the country's own cultivation areas
but also new plants that can convert the mass of malt required
the drinking behavior of consumers is changing
and they are increasingly preferring beer varieties with one hundred percent malt content
Coopagricola (Ponta Grossa) and Frísia (Carambeí) have joined forces to build the world's largest malting plant ever built in a single project: Maltaria Campos Gerais
This plant is expected to produce between 700 and 800 tons of malt per day
This corresponds to an annual production of about 240 000 tons of malt and about 14 % of consumer demand
this is the second Zeppelin plant of this kind
The existing plant is reaching its limits due to changing consumer behavior and cannot be expanded because there is no more free agricultural land in the surrounding area
The Maltaria Campos Gerais project is located in an area that has an additional 100,000 hectares of land available for barley cultivation
Process technology from raw material intake to uprooting
Agrária has already relied on the renowned technologies of this plant manufacturer for the first Zeppelin plant
and the process engineering design convinced the company
so that they are now placing an order for the large-scale plant with the same supplier
The Maltaria plant in Campos Gerais consists of a steeping building with 24 steeping tanks
two towers with five germination boxes each and two kilns
To ensure the high throughputs with consistently high product quality from raw material reception to uprooting
vertical conveying of the barley into the flow weigher
The automatic flow scales from Zeppelin Systems enable precise weighing and the user always has all parameters in view
so that the exact amount of barley is fed into the production process and the steeping process can then begin
the barley is moistened until it begins to germinate
Germination and kilning - high quality and efficiency thanks to sophisticated technologies
Germination is a fundamental process step in every malting plant
The Maltaria Campos Gerais plant has ten round germination boxes distributed over two 65-meter-high concrete towers
each with a diameter of 30.5 meters and a capacity of 400 tons of barley
This Zeppelin technology ensures the handling of large volumes
since the large plant will produce malt 365 days a year
the barley is continuously moistened by air flowing through and ensuring that the barley does not dry out
there are two circular kilns with a diameter of 40 meters and a capacity of 400 tons of barley
The kilns are located in adjacent buildings
Agrária relies on high-performance equipment from Zeppelin Systems - this makes it possible to generate differentiated taste and visual profiles and thus specifically influence the character of the final product
a heat recovery system and automation solutions are used to ensure an extremely efficient process
the high quality of the components and smooth running of the individual process steps are elementary for the Maltaria Campos Gerais plant
This is because the breweries have already planned several large orders in Brazil
which are currently ensuring full capacity utilization of the plant
Sustainable management for environmentally friendly production
In addition to efficiency and profitability
sustainability is a high priority at Agrária
the plant has heat exchangers to recover the heat generated in production
This achieves energy savings up to 20 percent
the technology used reduces water consumption
Investing in the topic of sustainability primarily generates good partnerships internationally
as the customers - large global corporations - also place a strong focus on this topic
Cooperativa Agrária is listed with the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI) and ranked with 20% Gold and 80% Silver level
SAI is committed to building a sustainable agricultural sector and emphasizes strong as well as secure supply chains
Brazil malting malt houses
Newsletter archive and information
Guarapuava, Brazil - November 2017 - On the weekend of 25-26 November, over 90 young people of the Salesian Youth Movement gathered at the Salesian house in Guarapuava, Brazil-Porto Alegre Province, to take part in the III thematic meeting of this pastoral year, on the theme: "Let what you said happen to me" (Lk 1:38). During the meeting, there were reflections on the figure of Mary, and various workshops led by educators and members of the Family Ministry on the theme of family.
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Semi-naked hostages on the prison roof with inmates covering their faces
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Brazilian inmates overpowered 13 guards and took prisoners hostage in a violent demonstration which saw six people being set on fire before being dropped from the roof
Prisoners also tied a blindfolded hostage's ankles with a rope and and dangled him upside down from the roof of the severely overcrowded Guarapuava prison during the second day of riots
The six who plunged to the ground after being torched are recovering in hospital after more than 30 prisoners used violence to demand better living conditions in the southern Brazilian state of Parana
Another guard is being treated for 20 per cent burns after hot glue was thrown at him
with one stating: “we don't know if we'll make it home after our shifts.”
One of the guards was released by the captors in exchange for food being brought to the prison
This is the fifth riot in Parana's prisons in the last few weeks
"The Parana prison system is in major crisis," said the regional prison officer's union Sindarspen in a statement
and that their demands include better food
Gabriel Elizondo, in Sao Paulo for Al Jazeera
said: “The negotiations are extremely complicated and as delicate as state special forces are
police on the scene risk the situation turning more violent if they go in with force.”
The uprising follows an incident where two prisoners were beheaded and another killed by fellow inmates in protest over living conditions in August.
Police believe the inmates involved are criminal gang members of the PCC, one of South America's most notorious groups with 6,000 incarcerated out of 13,000 followers.
There are 548,000 prisoners in Brazil, which works out to 274 inmates per 100,000 residents, according to the International Centre of Penitentiary Studies.
Brazilian human rights charity Conectas says the country needs to boost prison capacity by 207,000 to overcome severe overcrowding.
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This is the horrifying moment a Brazilian prison warden was tied up and dangled from the jail roof by inmates who have seized control of the complex.
The uprising at the Guarapuava prison in the south of the country began on Monday when inmates on a work detail over-powered guards, taking 12 of them hostage on the building's roof.
Authorities trying to gain control of the prison uprising managed to win the release of one of 12 prison guards yesterday, but the others have been stripped naked, tied up and badly beaten by masked prisoners gathered on the rooftop, in scenes that have shocked Brazil.
The Parana state justice secretariat said a group of more than 30 prisoners was leading the rebellion at the Guarapuava prison, and that an unknown number of other inmates were involved.
There are about 250 inmates in total at the facility some 550 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The inmates have a long list of demands, including better food, treatment, conditions and the transfer of some prisoners to other penitentiaries.
It's the latest rebellion to hit a prison in Brazil, where severe overcrowding and poor infrastructure lead to dozens of uprisings each year.
Horrific conditions and inter-gang violence are seen in many of Brazil's prison facilities, some of which are essentially run by drug gang leaders who continue to run their criminal enterprises on the outside despite being locked up.
In one sickening incident in August, prisoners beheaded two fellow inmates during a rebellion at another facility in Parana state.
Live television images broadcast on Monday showed prisoners armed with knives and clubs beating some of the disrobed guards and fellow inmates atop a prison building roof.
At least six men were injured when they were thrown from the roof onto the ground below.
No deaths have been reported in the latest disturbances at Guarapuava prison.
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Warden tied up and DANGLED from roof of Brazilian prison Commenting on this article has endedNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}