Lead institution: Associação de Coletores de Sementes da Chapada dos Veadeiros – Cerrado de Pé

The project seeks to strengthen and consolidate the fire brigade of the Cerrado de Pé Seed Collectors Association (ACP), established in 2023 to support wildfire response within and around Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park. Cerrado de Pé maintains a formal Cooperation Agreement with the park (No. 044/2020), under which it carries out restoration activities in degraded areas through seed collection, playing an active and increasingly strategic role in the Cerrado restoration value chain. However, many of these restoration areas remain highly vulnerable to fire, a risk that has intensified year after year.

The project aims to prevent, control, and respond to wildfires within Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park and its surrounding areas, encompassing state-level protected areas such as the Pouso Alto Environmental Protection Area and the Chapada de Nova Roma Ecological Station, as well as the Kalunga Quilombola Territory. The initiative supports the implementation of the Park’s Integrated Fire Management Plan (IFMP).

To achieve this objective, the project will: (1) Strengthen and equip the ACP fire brigade by training 30 firefighters, acquiring a vehicle for field operations, and procuring firefighting equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE); (2) Promote education and community integration activities with quilombola communities, extractivist groups, and rural settlements within and around the park and the Kalunga Quilombola Territory; (3) Undertake wildfire prevention through prescribed burning, when necessary, in fire-prone areas surrounding the park, in line with the Park’s IFMP; (4) Monitor and suppress wildfires, with particular attention to peak dry-season periods.