Influencing Socio-Economic and Environmental Policy

When Iracambi farm was set up in 1989, it was in a remote location, entirely dependent on a town that was 45km away on steep and often impassable muddy tracks - a good two hours' drive if you could get through at all. The village of Limeira had no paved roads, there was no health care, very little in the way of rural schools, and no telephone or motorized transport. Most people living here were unable to read or write, outsiders were regarded with suspicion and country families lived as their ancestors had always done. There are were no jobs apart from a few positions at the local coffee factory or occasional help with harvesting, children in the rural areas had to walk a long way to school, and their mothers were expected to stay at home and look after their families.

The only way to catalyze local development was to try to access state funds through petitioning the state governor.

In 1996, after seven years of campaigning, the brand new county of Rosário da Limeira was established, transforming the formerly sleepy village into a bustling rural center, with schools, health and dental clinics, shops, a mobile library, a police station, cars and motorbikes, paved roads, telephones, and an internet cafe. The main square formerly consisted of a few bars and some hitching posts for the only transport - horses and mules. Now it boasts a baker, pharmacy, cafe, secondary school, bus stop, a taxi rank, an orthodontist and large signs forbidding the parking of horses and mules. Local elections are held every four years, the county has one of the highest human development indices in the region, and people here have discovered that democracy really works.

Strengthening Environmental Planning in the Region

By 1999 the non-profit organization Amigos de Iracambi was established and soon became involved in local and state environmental policy. Iracambi founded and chaired the Limeira Sustainable Development Commission in which we are still active. We also serve on the the board of the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park, and are members of the governing group of the Serra do Brigadeiro Development Territory, as well as the boards of the State Forestry Institute and the State Environmental Policy Commission. Ten years into the life of the organization we sometimes wonder how we have time to do anything that isn't policy related! But it does give us and our communities a voice and a stake in our development, and we can really see lives changing - as well as forests being restored.