Between 31 January and 2 February, organizations and social movements who work for the Campaign in Defence of the Cerrado came together in Brasilia (DF) to evaluate activities undertaken in 2017 and construct a strategic agenda for 2018. Given the scenario of setbacks, it was determined that activities should focus on strengthening the campaign, through: more active participation from the movements, local organizations and communities from the Cerrado; international projection of the campaign in countries in Latin America, the United States and in European countries that have a tradition of the defence of social and environmental causes; and participation in arenas and events, such as the Alternative World Water Forum (Fórum Alternativo Mundial da Água: FAMA), which will take place between 17 and 22 March 2018 in Brasilia (DF), in order to unify the struggle against the attempts of large corporations to transform water into a commodity.
According to Isolete Wichinieski, an agent from the Pastoral Land Commission in Goiás (Comissão Pastoral da Terra em Goiás: CPT-GO), progress has been made in terms of impact on public opinion, through political training and greater visibility of the difficulties faced by the communities and traditional peoples given the expansion of agribusiness and livestock breeding in the Cerrado, in the context of the 2017 political situation in Brazil, which was particularly challenging.
On 1 and 2 February, the campaign’s Collective of Communicators focused on the strategic agenda to map the target audience and the activities to be undertaken in 2018.
For two years the campaign has worked for the defence of the territories, communities, water and biodiversity of the Cerrado, confronting agribusiness and its advances in the states of Maranhão, Tocantins and Piauí, in advocacy with the public authorities for the transformation of the Cerrado/Caatinga into National Heritage – Constitutional Amendment 504, and in the defence of indigenous territories, quilombolas and traditional peoples.
Find out more about the Campaign in Defence of the Cerrado: http://semcerrado.org.br/ (in Portuguese).