Arc of Regeneration

This moment of climate change, shows how fundamental is to preserve primary forest and restore previously devastated areas. Regardless, the deforestation continues. In 2020, the Amazonian deforestation was higher than in the last 12 years. More than 11.000km2 of forest were lost, releasing Carbon to the atmosphere and leading to big biodiversity losses.

What is often overlooked is that these environmental crimes are often related to crimes against human rights. Traditional communities are being removed of their land, and even being killed due to land issues.

But these communities are open to innovative regenerative practices that acknowledge their traditional heritage and knowledge. Meli Bees Network gather these communities to build, with them, an Arc of Regeneration in some of the most endangered areas of the Amazon.

Activities such as native beekeeping and agroforesty based on traditional knowledge is key for a healthy and resilient ecosystem. 

Only in 2020, 11.000 km2 of Brazilian Amazon was destroyed, more than in the last 12 years. Releasing ca. 500 million tons CO2.

These environmental crimes that affect the whole world, often have roots in crimes against traditional communities in the ground. Also in 2020, 18 persons were killed due to land-related questions in Brazil, more than 80% in the Amazon region (according to CPT).

These deaths reach communities which are still invisible to the rest of the globe and the current international cooperation activities are not able to effectively address this problem.

Meli Bees Network gUG is an international non-profit, focused on building an Arc of Regeneration, with practices such as agroforestry and beekeeping, in the area of the Brazilian Amazon known as the Arc of Deforestation.

To do so, we believe in partnerships. We build deep relationships with traditional communities (indigenous, quilombola and smallholder) and engage them in a network with other communities they can relate to, share knowledge with and get inspired by.

We also connect the communities with the Academia to bring technical expertise, research and foster scientific work supported by traditional and indigenous knowledge. And we seek to partner with non-profits and other actors active to share our expertise, learn from and amplify our work.

We develop beekeeping with locally native stingless bees (meliponiculture) coupled with areas of regenerative agroforesty, based on the local native cultures. These activities support each other, as the bees are the native pollinators of the native flora and increase its production. The result is the construction of a resilient ecosystem - for land and people to flourish.

The main members of our network are the traditional communities in the Amazon area: native, quilombolas and smallholders. They find at Meli a space where they can relate to, engage with other members, share and receive knowledge, inspire and get inspired.

Being raised in this region, I have had contact with some of these communities since many years what allowed my to have an entry door. After trust is build amongst the members, the network automatically grows, as other traditional communities learn about our activities.

One of the tools to understand their needs is our Community Board. The board is composed by one native, one quilombola, two smallholders and one native beekeeper. This group of Meli Members are part of the organisation's decision-making, especially related to their own communities.

To support and build trust within Amazonian communities is to support the protection of the forest, as a resilient ecosystem. For that, we will enhance their inspiration and resilience to support the protection of their land, biodiversity and cultural heritage. As a result, the community resilience will increase, as well as their food sovereignty and economic security.

With native beekeeping and agroforesty, we support the entire local biodiversity: healthy soil and native bees, the primary pollinators of the local flora.

Our activities are based to support the resilience of the whole ecosystem: community and biodiversity.

In 2019 we developed the first activities in the direction of what was going to be Meli Bees Network. We supported a Kayapó native community to develop native beekeeping, developed through crowdfunding.

In 2020 we engaged students, researchers and traditional community members (native, quilombola and smallholders) in the network. We officially founded the non-profit organisation. In the last months of the year we got the news of receiving our first scholarship to focus on the project and we got the first project approved.

Since that, we approved 3 projects, to develop beekeeping and/or regenerative agriculture with traditional communities supported by Ecosia, L'Occitane Foundation and Hand in Hand-Fonds. We also got selected to the Food Systems Game Changers Lab of the in support of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.

It is community and nature based. Our main innovation is bring the traditional knowledge to the center of our product.

Once we build, based on open-source technology, a communication straight with the traditional community members, we build a trust relationship inside our group, leading to a multiplying network of our regenerative activities. The members, autonomously, share information and guidance with each other and cheer the success of each other member.

They is catalytic once it is a system change and the social and environmental positive impact growths automatically due to both, nature restoring itself and communities supporting each other.

Our network currently reaches 20 communities.
These are 5 native villages, ca. 200 families; 1 Quilombola village; and 14 smallholders villages.
We work are currently working on storytelling and photography workshops for 20 quilombola women, and 75 smallholders.
This year we will impact 150 families with regenerative practices of agroforestry and/or native beekeeping.

In five years we intend to engage 1.000 families to restore 2.500ha of previously devastated areas; develop 50 community “beehouses”; and protect, monitor and develop sustainable supply chains with communities in 1.000.000ha.

• We measure with the number of families involved and on the storytelling activities and the content they produce (SDG 4 and 5);
• the number of beehives and quantity/quality of its production (honey, pollen and propolis) (SDG 1, 10, 12 and 15); 
• the area of forest the community is committed to protect for this activity, and/or area of regenerative agriculture the bees support with pollination (SDG 13 and 15);
• the production and number of species in our agroforestry (SDG 1, 10, 12 13 and 15).

• 5 persons in the European team (1 full-time, 4 part-time)
• 8 contractors in the Brazilian team.

The team is very aware about the Amazonian reality it was started by a new generation of Amazonian leaders, who witnessed the deforestation of our home in the last decades and need to act finding solutions for that. We maintain our deep local roots and also connect with global climate engaged groups.

We also have a strong advisory board of traditional communities, to make sure we always acknowledge their view in our decision-making.

Being a female-lead group, it is great to see that 70% of our team is female and with the presence of members from native, quilombola and smallholder communities.

We also develop Team decision-making strategies (such as the previously mentioned Community Board) to be able to always hear the diverse voices of our members.

Solve would bring us more contact with possible partners around the globe (Partnership Potential).

Being a Solver would also help us having access and learning about tools that would support us scaling our impact to other traditional communities and more members inside the communities (Scalability); and to bring a Innovative Approach to the activities we do, as well better communicating them.

We are open to new team members to support building also a global network of support for our activities.

We are looking for donors to finance our structure, as well projects.

We need support regarding the regulatory matters of commercialisation, mainly regarding export, of products such as natural pigments and cosmetics.

Meli is a women-lead organisation and we prior our relationship with and the role of women inside traditional Amazonian communities.

Meli monitors the carbon sequestration and the reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation related to our activities. For that, we started a project called "Community Carbon", together with the Xikrin native community. This project would lead to the reduced emissions of 188.000 (t CO2) in the first year and would be lead by the native community with the goal to also share their experience with other traditional communities in the Network.