Urbal Pampa Fase 2 / Phase 2

This document was prepared with financial assistancefrom the European Union. However, their content is the sole responsibilityof the municipality of Borba and can not, under any circumstances be regardedas reflecting the position of the European Union The project “Urban centers on protected areas: Methods to promote the inhabitants socio-economical development throught nature’s care” from URB-AL III program of the European Comission that has two phases: the first one, is to obtain knowledge about the local reality, where the field inventory made identified 7 axes of sustainable economical development: Native Forests, Wool and Loom, Milk, Apiculture, Orchards, Sheeps and Rural Tourism. These axes, as a result of a debate process with ample participation of the interested locals, represents the base for the sutainable development of the region, taking into account the needs of the local population and the Pampa’s Biomass and local culture preservation. In the second phase, from these 7 axes, 22 income generation projects and close to 70 Demonstrative Units were elaborated. All sub-projects are interconnected and have the objective of the sustainable development of the IPA (international Protected Area) Pampa, a tranborders territory that includes 5 partners in Latin America: Department of Rivera in Uruguay, and the brasilian municipalities of Livramento, Quaraí, Alegrete y Rosário do Sul. The European Union was co-endowing a project in Latin America, in an unknown area. That was the opportunity. and then we found ourselves with the challenge of having the ability of execution of the project. and we had to involve the community of the focus area They want to stay here, they leave only if they find that there is no future for them here Therefore, having the perspective that there is a return, If they achieve to have a good gain they will stay here. We believed that there should be a project specific for the women. The majority of the sheep growers in our region raise sheep the same way there used to be 50 years ago. This is totally new; we are planting native species in a co-partnership alternative, These species are well adapted to the regions soil and climate conditions, and all have potential. During the project’s execution time, we got to improve the communications that we had with the other municipalities, and with the other technicians working there. This program gave us the opportunity to strengthen institutional relationships between Livramento and Rivera turning into a reference of international relations We could anticípate the problems to different situations, to give faster solutions. Even the simplest technology, or anything that would improve the farmers handling makes the outcome positive And they show satisfaction. These coverages we used to see on TV, And now we are seeing them here. we couldn’t believe this to be true There is a farmer that told me that he could not imagine that with a single shed watching the birth of the sheep and avoiding the death of the lambs… That one was the one that passed the 100% mark on lamb births it was amazing ! And now I am more dedicated to the sheep, I’m investing, I bought another flock This wool comes from 210 sheep This wool is ready, then we are going to comb it… and prepare it to make horse’s blankets, now he is going to sell less because we are going to work with the wool, it will be more efficient Since farmers have few units, they can’t sell them individually Then the association of grouped sales , allowed to generate gains from that activity Four demostrative units were defined and we hope they will be outreach centers for this region’s farmers to expand the use of the technology because they understood that this technology works. My husband was not too interested on sheep I love the sheep he doesn’t, he likes steaks, “charque” gaucho’s basics When I was invited to participate on the project he told me: You decide Then I went and decided. and yesterday it was a reward for me because he spontaneously decided to go to a talk about sheep for me is gratifying … It is a love gesture. Here in Livramento we implemented 4 projects besides the ones in Rivera, and today they are giving positive results for the community We have the community involved and participating. And it was a huge challenge to explain that the tourism together with cattling and agriculture could generate new ways of economic income get their children to stay longer at home without needing to go look for better opportunities elsewhere that was our challenge at the beginning later people started to see what was happening The Project got established. The threshing was discovered, this sub-project is going to leave 6 touristic routes in Livramento and a itinerant demostrative unit It ‘s a great joy to welcome tourists And treat them the best way possible I never before had exploited rural tourism I Neither knew that I had such a beautiful place like this waterfall! Here I have a very solitary life here And now I have meetings from time to time I have new friends which is very important. When you go to work, you look at the landscape and not pay attention because you are used to it, and each time a friend comes, he looks form the lands heights because we have a higher area and they tell you: “What a beautiful landscape” one found it pretty but now one looks differently at it for the exploitation of a productive activity in a place that you didn’t pay much attention before The idea is to identify touristic proposals in a protected preservation area, and benefit the inhabitants offering them resources for the development of receptive tourism activities is a very rich area of biological diversity, Worth of being known and exploited as a touristic product because that’s in turn a sustainable mean of income, and a complement for the families. One is everyday here and doesn’t care, doesn’t give too much importance but the people that comes from somewhere else gets amazed with what they see. The people doesn’t value what they have, But once you see it… maybe you get accustomed to that, you realize that is not like that when someone from another place comes. they become marveled with the place In the first phase we try to identify and rescue the region’s patrimony value, thinking on its diffusion and promotion, specially to the tourist And a second phase to make the project sustainable which is the capacitation of the same locals on patrimonial issues in the understanding that it is necessary the involvement of the people, so the future can generate income to the region’s inhabitants that daily coexists with what belongs to them, it may not be easy to acknowledge the importance that it has, and much less the relevance that it may have for the foreign tourist, therefore, our work took that into account, and tried to step back and evaluate in its just terms that kind of assets and patrimonial values Honestly, with our reduced area the only difference that we can achieve, to stand out in something, is with tourism because the field is very small so, I started to make “dulce de leche” which I have never made before, the first time turn out a little hard, but the second time was much better I love to bake bread, cookies, Servet he tourist… It has been 20 years since I played the accordion and now I started to practice again To work next to a school gives you the possibility to get involved with the people that is tomorrow’s future, that in a short time will assume their properties, their responsabilities as adults. I really like the resource of the orchard, we spend the whole day in the classroom, and in the afternoon we go to the orchard Then it’s more relaxed. They are not only in the classroom. It’s a Project that contributed a lot to our school to be able to show our children how does an orchard works, is very important because it begins to invest in education, so that later we can obtain better results They love to prepare the soil, I have pictures, they built the flowerbeds themselves They enjoy this and they want to learn more If at school they can visualize the possibility of an agro-ecological production, the importance of taking care of the environment, of planting native forests, of producing with sustainable methods, for example honey I think that just for that reason, URBAL Project is a great contribution Many farmers had a very wrong tradition of apiculture, with old fashion and very ancient ways of doing, that have been corrected. Because we are working on native forests this implies different timings that implies a much slower development, but without doubt with a much stonger outcome. It was a process, slowly getting a nucleus, improving, Later I had 10 beehives and thus everything was progressing. Due to its originality, at first, the project had initial difficulties, but I would say, and I am sure evryone else would agree with me, that the project achieved its goals, and is still doing it, enough to see this property that is a model for others in similar situation. The main goal is to keep the inhabitants of the rural areas In their place with dignifying conditions. We realized that on top of doing field trips, explain the methodology, nothing compares to “see it to believe it”, After Claudiomiro y Zusana did the closing for the winter grasslands, their neighbor, looking over the fence and seeing that the system gives evident results, he started to apply it on his property, and without the visit of a technician to show him how to do it. I would summarize that in this town, was a field of 10 acres they wanted to sell to leave for the city, today, they maintain the original 10 acres and they rent the other 22, on the same business process with higher returns, we have produced 15 native species, 5 for medicines, 5 for fruits and 5 for timber forests, Here we grow Guayabo del País (Acca sellowiana), which is one of the fruits species that we are planting, in 8 of the demonstrative units. We are helping farmers to have an ecologic and commercial vision at the same time. In fact, this species are getting a great relevance around the world, because their fruit is very rich on vitamin C and has the highest iodine contain. We are contributing to biodiversity, We are creating a germoplasm bank forests. From this species and others like Guayubira, Congorosa and Lapacho, we are going to have seeds in those 8 producers. If this works, other farmers will be able to use them This has a clear association with eco-tourism. My dream and theirs, is the manufacture of marmalades and handcrafts to sell to the visiting tourists. The majority of the native trees, are of medicinal usage, I learn it with him, and if the tree is medicinal, why couldn’t its fruits be consumed? That was my starting point and now I have a great variety of marmalades, made out of Coronilla, Tala, Arrayán, Higuerón, and an important one is made out of grated wood, from Higuera del Monte’s wood I grate it and make marmalade This one is that we just tried is wood’s marmalade that one is a Guabiyu, I make wood’s marmalade with it, of course. URBAL Project has demonstrated that it can conserve biodiversity and a rich landscape with sustainable and productive entrepreneurships not only in the financial and economic scope but also by being environment friendly. This has generated real opportunities to improve families’ income that are settled on the territory that the project develops. Thus, without doubts has to be the first element to be considered by public policies as a way to prevent the continuous migration from rural areas to the poor peripheries of urban centers. The idea is to produce milk from grass fed animals, Environmental aspects like improving soils fertility And the preservation of soil and water and very importantly, management aspects because the great majority of the owned lands do not have managerial control, Which means the control of flocks and heards by animal technicians while implementing economical control. The economical evaluation. Plus, from these demonstrative units, the technicians are getting special capacitation. and applying it in other properties, Here in Alegrete we have more than 15 properties atended with this methodology, which aren’t demonstrative units of URBAL, but, through field trips and project’s diffusion More farmers are eager to learn this methodology What we have learned in theory, we can apply in a practical way, seeing what works good, what should be the focus for things to work, Because this methodology is new in this municipality, and allows a small property to generate good results, and to maintain the farmer here One ends up becoming friends with the farmers You arrive and drink a mate you do not only talk about grass and cows, you start talking about other issues. We are very happy that we got chosen for the “full bucket" program and things are working, improving on a daily basis and is going to get even better, Therefore, because it was improving, we decided to invest on this, Remember how we were before, we decided to expand, the cows have the potential to increase milk production, over there they didn’t have the conditions, the milk I thought I knew… but the truth is that I didn’t know how to do things, We learnt a lot with you. Wool production was very strong in the region and disappeared, The idea was not to bring something new, Instead, to strengthen the region’s resources that women already had, It begins with the thought that women is the foundation for the family to stay in the countryside, In the majority of the rustic wool projects the only thing that they were making were “ponchos”, blankets, or shawls at the most. Women obtained personal growth, development, we see them happier, we aim to happiness, There is work but there is smile, there is joy, there is life, And you can see the results on the clothes made. We are actualizing, learning, what I was saying is that before the wool was just for sale, and today we are going to work and produce. For many women to come here is like their weekly outing, Last class, we were commenting with a student, that she had thought about not coming because she was alone at home, and that if she hadn’t come she would have regret it. Besides learning things, this has a social component, and the opportunity of personal growth at the beginning, many didn’t even talk and now they even bring already made clothes and with enthusiasm That was a student’s idea she had made it at home and another student learnt its technique, mixed wool with the three natural colors, grey, crude and brown and now is in a loom. We are about to start a piece, is a sweater with bat shaped sleeves, like a jacket. It is the result of a team’s work planification, dedication, study, but camaraderie as well, None achieves anything alone, we are a team, The work’s methodology is focused on women’s personality, we women do many things at the same time, On other projects we were seeing that women were becoming bored then we took into account women’s enthusiasm, some makes looms, others frames, others crochet, others knit and others are just drawing, but the most important thing is that there is an interaction with all the techniques to look for something different. We also incorporated technique records that does not exist in other projects this is very important because later when there is not going to be any teacher, they will have a folder with all the techniques recorded with the design to be able to repeat it, to have continuity. This one is washed; we just need to prepare it. This one is for me, now in the course I am learning and later, I am going to make it at home In a rainy day, stranded here, alone… I will make a sweater, work with the loom, Some extra income will come in! no? This is the projects’s gain, when you see the satisfaction of the farmers, that they were selected as demonstrative units, that they are satisfied with what was once just a project, and now is a reality. This is novedous and they are very enthusiastic, they have improved their daily activities, I think that tourism is very relevant, as educational tourism as well Of course, environmental education To get people here is a way of enriching their culture some pathways are already getting tourists, even foreigners, yesterday, I run into one in Tranqueras that received few Mexicans, He was fascinated, imagine that! In this area of native forests, I will put a Bed and Breakfast for tourists. Less worries, Who doesn’t like to get a good night sleep? We do! I will be the first one to incentive countryside people, I will be one of the first ones. Looking ahead, our challenge is to cultivate seeds that were planted, there are sown and the soil is fertile, we know our potencial, but the challenge is on these people with their own hands give continuity to the seeds planted by URBAL. Filmed in Rivera, Livramento, Quaraí, Alegrete and Rosário do Sul. October 2012