Dear Verdejar friends,
First of all, we wish you all a new year full of possibilities and opportunities. Good health for the body, mind and the environment!
As we know, everything is connected. To live well, we need balance. We live in troubled times, a world still very threatened by greed, aberrant destruction of forests, pollution of rivers and seas, as well as absurd and unjustifiable wars, poverty, violence, racism and immense waste. We have greatly abused nature, our source of sustenance, our greatest Mother.
On the other hand, a new consciousness is awakening. We see growth in demand and production of organic food, less consumerist and more selective trends. People are increasingly questioning themselves, many are looking for a more sustainable and less aggressive way of living. The paradigm shift is very slow and difficult, but it is necessary. It’s time to create new habits, work for a better present and demand from authorities positions that are appropriate to the world we live in here and now.
Meanwhile, even though we still don’t have much support, we germinate and plant seedlings, and continue with the mission of planting trees and environmental awareness. In 2023, the Verdejar d’Ajuda association remained active and took, slowly and tirelessly, some important steps. Among them:
- At the beginning of the year there was our third general meeting, in which a new board of directors was chosen. This is its composition:
President – Marcos Teixeira;
Vice – Glória Bonilla;
Treasurer – Massimiliano Cremonesi;
Substitute – Maria Aparecida Miranda dos Santos;
Advisors: Joana Innecco, Pedro Felix, Ilana Lewinsohn.
And behind the scenes they continue to act with care and commitment Vera,
- New members joined us, several of whom were already working as volunteers at our nursery.
- In June, with the institutions: Coral Vivo, UFSB (University of Southern Bahia) and Jardim Ciranda, Verdejar d’Ajuda filed a formal petition with the city hall to develop the Centro Socioambiental SER in the city’s Central Park, in the area around the airfield, where our first nursery was located in 2016. This center will house a Educator Nursery, especially native tree seedlings, for environmental compensation, landscaping and urban afforestation projects.
- Thanks to the work of the Observatory, Érica Munaro, Cris and Joana Innecco, representing Verdejar, it was approved municipal law No. 1,973/23, on December 8, which establishes the Municipality’s urban afforestation master plan, encourages planting in urban areas and imposes fines on those who break the laws.
- In September we did an action at the nursery with CEAD students and we had the participation of Eli Weissmann from Canteiros da Mata.
- In October, we had a visit from Hugo Silva, a Portuguese volunteer from the Portuguese NGO Para Onde, who helped us plant, water and create content for social media for a month. The same NGO is willing to send more volunteers in 2024.
- Also in October, we continued the action of the Bosque project by planting 30 to 40 seedlings next to the new Alameda do Parque Central.
- We had a planting action in the main square in the Alto do Vilas neighborhood in partnership with the neighborhood residents’ association; two actions at the Nilzenil de Almeida Nobre school where we celebrated Arbor Day by planting 40 seedlings of native species with 80 students aged 6 to 7 and in the second planting action, we managed to plant another 27 seedlings, totaling 67 seedlings planted, thus we managed to create a ecological corridor and always with the support of the school’s students, we carried out a general cleaning and irrigation of all the seedlings in another action. Furthermore, in conjunction with the NGO Anjos d’Ajuda, we held an Aulão module on the animal cause at Escola Municipal São Pedro. We also participated in Environment Week at UFSB.
- In the nursery we had 165 seedlings produced and we are in the transition phase to a larger nursery, focused on five native species that are endangered.
- Verdejar d’Ajuda, through its associates Simone Preuss, Joana Innecco and, now, Girlane Valentim Lopes, joined the Environmental Council, following and voting on the agendas of the MA Secretariat in its monthly meetings.
- The Verdejar – UFSB partnership was consolidated through a communication project in the form of podcasts, which will be launched in 2024, coordinated by Caio Turbay, Associate Professor at the UFSB Environmental Sciences Training Center and journalism student.
In January 2024 we will have a general meeting with voting on a new board of directors for the next two years. Anyone who is not yet a member and wants to join, anyone who is a member and wants to apply, this is the time to get closer, roll up your sleeves and plant a better world.
We sincerely hope that in 2024 we can give birth to our beloved SER project, begin construction of the Socio-Environmental Center in Parque Central, a place for socialization, where meetings, courses, workshops, actions, lectures, conferences, debates will take place , competitions, celebrations, in addition to the daily activities of our definitive Educator Nursery, where thousands of beautiful seedlings will sprout that will be planted, grow and offer homes for the birds, shade, beauty and joy for this and the next generations.
So be it!
Gratitude to supporters and associates and welcome to everyone who can contribute time, ideas and donations!
Together we are stronger !
Ass: Diretoria da Associação Verdejar d’Ajuda
