Iracambi Annual Report, 2014 Our year of 2014

Biologist and volunteer coordinator Miriam Boucher from Canada continued to oversee the camera traps, with the assistance of Jen Moss from the US. They succeeded in expanding the list of sightings of a large variety of nocturnal (and diurnal) visitors – puma, ocelot, jaguarundi, margay, porcupine, tayra, monkeys, peccary, red rumped agouti, paca, rice rat, crab eating raccoons, coatis, nine banded armadillos, several varieties of opossum, jararaca, coral snakes, vine snakes and snake necked turtles. Belgian biologist Brecht contributed to the ongoing work on amphibians, which culminated in the publishing by the Chicago Field Museum, of Amphibians of Iracambi with contributions from Miriam and Brecht, as well as Stefanie Rog and Miriam Strijker. The Field Museum also published a Guide to the Birds of Iracambi, recorded in 2013 by long time Iracambista and British ornithologist Muffi Forbes, assisted by Julia Migné from France.

Frederik van Daele (from Belgium) carried out an extensive survey of forest corridors in the Environmental Protection Area of Babilônia, laying the groundwork for a future program of Payment for Environmental Services. This work was later complemented by Mukhaye Muchimuti (Kenya) who completed a paper on watershed management in the Environmental Protection Areas of Serra das Aranhas, with maps supplied by Jedrik Chao from Pomona College, CA. The paper was subsequently translated into Portuguese and presented to the County Environmental Protection Council.

Danielle and Mackenzie (from the US) continued the ongoing program of water monitoring, and Mariana (Bulgaria) later compiled the statistics. Henry and Alfie from England carried out a program of soils monitoring, Pieter Jan worked on a trial of forest seedlings, Katy, (UK) expanded the tree inventory, and Chloe and Brooke (Australia) worked on reforestry.
Community studies

Life at Iracambi was much enlivened in June by the arrival of a group of graduate students from the School for International Service at American University, led by Professor Eve Bratman. They spent three weeks with us doing a study on the potential changes to our local community arising out of the rural exodus. Their main conclusions were that these changes can only really be effectively absorbed by local communities if the communities themselves can make the necessary adjustments, such as providing in better opportunities for youth, adopting more sustainable agricultural practices, and being open to other opportunities that might arise (such as community based tourism.)

The Iracambi Geographical Information System is the only one in the area, and this was the year when we were able to fulfill our long held dream of making it into a useful tool for the community by starting the work of putting it on line. (LINK) Harry Maher from the US was first in the door, mapping and cutting a new trail on the Pico da Graminha Reserve. They were followed by our annual group of interns from Clark University: Faleh Al Dham from Saudi Arabia, who did the heavy lifting of uploading the data, former Iracambista Josh Plisinski who returned to tidy up the data, and Savannah Cooley who worked on watershed mapping and presented the GIS to the local community.

In 2014, Iracambi welcomed students and volunteers from 15 countries:

Australia	Belgium	Bolivia	Brazil	Bulgaria
Canada	Kenya	Poland	Saudi Arabia	Sri Lanka
Sweden	Switzerland	United Kingdom	United States	Zimbabwe

Coordinator Miriam came to the end of her term with us and took off to work with alligators in Belize. Fortunately for us Tegan from Bristol rode to the rescue, and the household was joined by Jake from Zimbabwe who manned the camera traps, Torkel (Sweden) who worked with Harry on the new trails, and Amy from Boston who did a terrific job with the business planning. Meanwhile Jeff gave us some excellent advice on fundraising, Mikael worked out a dream future for the place, Cameron sorted out multiple problems including our intractable server, Lizzie worked on the bird list, and Stephanie transformed the main building with her artistic talents, as well as working with Iracambi Secretary Sergio on setting up a Free Library in the local village, housed in a decommissioned refrigerator.

Iracambi was delighted to welcome new staff members and volunteer staff this year, and we have much pleasure in introducing you! First past the post was Leandro Santana, known as Lele. Noted biologist, primate researcher, passionate conservationist and one of our neighbors. Leandro has been part of the Iracambi family for a year or two helping out with the environmental education program, but 2014 saw him joining us as the coordinator of the 100K student exchange program, and providing an exceptional introduction to the challenges and delights of rainforest protection and sustainability. Next addition to the family is Guilherme Valvasori, (known as Gui) who joined us all the way from São Paulo. Gui has become a one-man pillar of the organization, acting as Center coordinator, deputy fundraiser, expert interpreter, and friend raiser in the local communities. Next comes Diogo Busnardo who leads our environmental education program, Young Eco Leaders. Diogo’s passion is agroecology and under his supervision the local schoolchildren have been exposed to new ideas and techniques and have flourished as a result. In the meantime Toni continues to oversee the forest nursery and reforestation program, Robin does everything from public policy and research direction to fixing a series of balky computers, and Binka deals with communications and fundraising.

In 2013 Iracambi formed a partnership with the Federal Technical Institutes of Southeastern Minas Gerais and the Sustainable Living Institute of Muncie Indiana, and shortly afterwards this winning team secured one of the first ten international grants awarded by the 100K in the Americas Innovation Fund, under the direct auspices of The White House and administered by our long time friends and colleagues Partners of the Americas. Four international students joined four IFET students in a four-week course held at Iracambi and on IFET's Rio Pomba campus, where they studied a wide range of topics ranging from biodiversity conservation to bio-construction, as well as English and Portuguese. Leandro was the course coordinator, and volunteer coordinator Guilherme was his right hand man. The second and third courses of the cycle are due to be held in January and May 2015.

Thanks to the great efforts of Iracambi students and volunteers, we were able to plant 2000 seedlings on the Pico da Graminha Forest Reserve. Our forest protection efforts are paying off, and there has been considerable natural regrowth, which is encouraging! Harry and Torkel built a new trail on the reserve, which was greatly appreciated by the group of bird watchers from Eco Avis. We were also able to continue work on the Mountain House. Iracambi’s former Vice President Sergio volunteered to concrete the floor and we were also able to install basic plumbing and wiring. All that remains is to plaster the walls, complete the fittings, make some furniture, and the house will be ready for use!

2014 saw the launch of our new environmental education program, Young Eco Leaders, under the command of new teacher Diogo. Two groups of middle and high schoolers, one from Limeira and the other from Belisário, are studying and applying good techniques of conservation land management to protect soils and water, improve on-farm productivity, and protect the forests. As part of the program the children travel to the environmental protection areas to learn from local farmers and experiment with new concepts of sustainability and agro-ecology. The school year was crowned by a tree planting day in Belisário, and feedback from both the school and students has been very positive.

This year saw Iracambistas participating in a number of important events, both in Brazil and beyond. First event was in May, when director Sergio Matos attended the AGM of the Atlantic Forest Network in São Paulo. Shortly after that, Robin took part in a symposium on Protected Areas at the University of Vicosa, along with the AGM of the State Association of Private Reserves, and later the first ever environmental seminar to be held in Muriaé.

In August Binka joined Peace Boat in Panama where she presented on topics of environmental and human rights to a large group of young Japanese leaders. Due to a badly timed bout of dengue fever she was unable to attend the 50^th anniversary convention of Partners of the Americas in Florianopolis, where the 100K program was presented by our partner Wagner Belo from the Federal Tech Institute. In October, Iracambi botanist Fabrício presented a paper on the Medicinal Plants of Iracambi at an international convention in Salvador, and in November both Robin and Binka attended a training session for Climate Leaders given by Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore. Later that month Robin attended a meeting of the Atlantic Forest Conservation Pact, and in December Binka returned to Southern Africa to rejoin Peace Boat.