Lead institution: Instituto Semiárido Baiano – ISB

The project seeks to promote awareness and the sustainable practice of controlled fire management, aiming to balance human needs with the protection of natural ecosystems. Through an integrated approach, it focuses on conserving fauna and flora while supporting local communities that depend directly on environmental health for their survival and well-being. The inappropriate use of fire, including illegal burning and wildfires, has caused serious and often irreversible damage to a range of ecosystems, particularly within the Caminho dos Gerais State Park, threatening biodiversity and the quality of life of surrounding populations. In response, the project proposes capacity building and awareness-raising activities with the Sapé community in the park’s surrounding area, focused on best practices in fire management, with an emphasis on prevention, control, and the recovery of affected areas.

It also seeks to protect local fauna and flora species, many of which are at risk due to habitat destruction caused by uncontrolled fires. To this end, the project will train new firefighters and implement monitoring and environmental education activities aimed at engaging local populations, particularly those living in high-risk areas, in responsible fire management and in the adoption of sustainable alternatives that support environmental conservation. Through educational actions, training, and field activities, the project seeks to mobilize the local community while strengthening public policies for environmental protection. The initiative also includes the restoration of degraded areas, the monitoring of threatened species, and support for the implementation of conservation strategies.

With a two-year duration, the project will directly train 30 people (men, women, and youth) from the Sapé community in area monitoring and wildfire prevention through capacity building, training, and educational activities, with the following targets: train 30 community members in monitoring and controlled fire management, forming local firefighters and multipliers of good practices; reduce the number of wildfires in the Caminho dos Gerais State Park through preventive and control actions; restore areas affected by burning through the planting of native species and the recovery of degraded ecosystems; monitor and protect threatened species by conducting surveys of local fauna and flora and implementing targeted conservation actions; strengthen environmental awareness in local communities by promoting understanding of the impacts of burning and the importance of conservation; reinforce local environmental protection policies by collaborating with public institutions and partner organizations to enable more effective action. By integrating controlled fire management with environmental conservation practices and community capacity building, the project aims to establish a more effective protection network through the training of new firefighters, ensuring ecosystem health and the safety of the communities that depend directly on them.