This idea is being discussed by our directors .... we have a small area on the farm owned by Christian, where we could do this project with a very small investment. The resulting 'humus' produced by raising earthworms could provide benefits for our community farmers, and also produce income by selling it to nurseries, and gardeners in the cities nearby.
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Added by Donald Reid on October 24, 2009 at 10:51am —
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We are working with Family Agriculture in the poor northeast of Brazil. Peirre Rabhi works in Africa, but the conditions are the same. Some 30 years ago I also worked with FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Peirre's story had become sort of a 'guideline' for our NGO/ONG (Christian, one of our directors is also French). Christian stated this morning that to do a project like this .. Family Agriculture .. one must love the land .. the earth can give us so much. One w…
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Added by Donald Reid on October 24, 2009 at 9:56am —
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Our NGO/ONG in Brazil - ABTC-BRASIL - is broadening our approach to 'family agriculture' and in concentrating on developing our school to teach ecologically sustainable agriculture and the customs and language (Portuguese) in the country.
The word "Permaculture" was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and one of his students, David H…
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Added by Donald Reid on June 22, 2009 at 11:00am —
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Today's agriculture and food systems are extraordinarly productive, but in the long run may not be sustainable. They have created tremendous pressure on natural resources and surrounding natural habitats, as well as compromising the economic health of rural communties, the food security of economically disadvantaged citizens, and the well-being of many of those who grow and harvest our food.
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Through our research, education, and outreach programs, the system works to create agriculture and food…
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Added by Donald Reid on March 31, 2009 at 11:37am —
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http://andetur.org/Focus_Conservation.htm
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Douglas Trent,
President of the Focus Conservation Fund, has lived and or worked in Brazil for nearly 30 years, and has been operating and guiding natural history tours in Sou…
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Added by Donald Reid on February 26, 2009 at 9:28am —
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What is a Mandalla?
The project Mandalla uses simple technology, efficient and low cost. Nine sites (or cirles) are built around a circular tank - a reservoir of water of about 6 - 12 m in diameter - the water is pumped from the tank to irrigate planting of vegetables, roots…
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Added by Donald Reid on February 26, 2009 at 8:11am —
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Association ABTC-BRASIL, non-profit NGO/ONG located in Natal Brazil. Director Donald Reid, American - resident in Brazil since 1979. Worked in Brazil since 1976.
Projetista - registered IBAMA – Ministério do Meio Ambiente – as Técnico Federal N° 235492 “Uso de Recursos Naturais / utilização do patrimônio natural; Turismo / complexos turísticos e de lazer, inclusive parques temáticos”
The Association ABTC-BRASIL works primarily with 'estrangeiros' interested in the possibility of retiring to…
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Added by Donald Reid on January 15, 2009 at 8:48am —
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Written by Inácio França - BrazzilMAG - Tuesday, 30 December 2008
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Brazil's first Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species will be housed in the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), in northern Brazil. The unit will be built and equipped with federal funds from the Studies and Projects Funding Body (Finep) and from the Bank of Northeastern Brazil (BNB).
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The laboratory will be headed by Egyptian agronomist Magdi Ahmed Ibrahim Aloufa, Vegetable Physiology professor at th…
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Added by Donald Reid on December 30, 2008 at 8:08am —
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Many of our forum members remember our trying to help LIKA, the Brazilian dog that has been suffering from not being able to walk since being kicked by an ill-tempered dog hater. Unfortunately we were not able to raise all the money for the treatments he needed, but we used the donations (R$ 130.00) from a few members to purchase pain medicine for him.
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The only 'treatment' he has received so far has been…
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Added by Donald Reid on December 24, 2008 at 8:18am —
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has led tributes to the Amazon rubber-tapper Chico Mendes on the 20th anniversary of his murder.
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Mr Mendes is seen as a pioneer of the environmental movement who mobilised local forest communities to stop the advance of loggers and ranchers.
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He was shot dead outside his home in the state of Acre on 22 December 1988.
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His l…
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Added by Donald Reid on December 23, 2008 at 7:38am —
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This week (Friday) we have an expo of the mandallas in Acari.at a settlement called Bico do Arara a few kilometers south of Acari. The settlement is located at the base of the famous mountain Bico do Arara ... (
www.acari-rn.com.br/bico.…
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Added by Donald Reid on December 17, 2008 at 8:44am —
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Written by Cláudia M. Abreu - BrazzilMAG
Tuesday, 02 December 2008
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Our story starts like this: Once upon a time there was a couple, a therapist and a psychologist. They lived in a large city, Rio de Janeiro, in the Brazilian Southeast. They had a son and decided, from then on, to live a different life, better, more healthy and attuned to the ideals of ecology and sustainability.
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They packed their bags and, literally, climbed the mountain range, moving to Teresópolis. They sold their apartmen…
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Added by Donald Reid on December 2, 2008 at 4:08pm —
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Donald Reid and Cristian Feroel will both be certified this next week as part of our ONG's qualification for the mandalla franchise for the state of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil.
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The agency
Mandalla DHSA, NGO/ONG registered in Brazil, transforms family agriculture into an economically feasible business, socially responsible and sustainable ecologically. The main principle of the organization is '…
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Added by Donald Reid on November 28, 2008 at 11:45pm —
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Two of our directors will attend the mandalla school in Cuite, Paraiba, starting on 17 November. I still had four months (1 week per month) to finish the course in order to qualify to establish the school in Acari ... but the directors of the school have agreed to let us do a special intensive course for 3 weeks straight to complete four months work.
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http://www.acari-rn.com.br/mandallas.htm
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We are doing every think possible to get this p…
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Added by Donald Reid on November 14, 2008 at 9:06am —
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We are trying to put together a special group to visit the northeast of Brazil in February. Timed to coincide with the Carnival Festival in Olinda, the trip is designed to take advantage of the new Delta Airlines flight direct to Recife from Atlanta, Georgia.
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Besides visiting the Carnival in Olinda, the object of the trip is to visit four areas or states of the Northeast ... Pernabuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceara. We plan on visiting several Americans living here that are buying pro…
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Added by Donald Reid on November 12, 2008 at 3:15pm —
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We received a big surprize at our meeting with SEARA this morning. Representatives of the Federal agency MDA attended and we (the ONG Association ABTC-BRAZIL) were offered the chance (again) to purchase the ranch and ecological reserve outright ... but this time at a huge discount (or outright write-off) of almost 50%.
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In 2004 the owner offered to sell the ranch to us for R$ 180,000.00 ... then later sold the property to INCRA/MDA/SEARA for R$ 80,000.00 for their rural reform program without…
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Added by Donald Reid on November 7, 2008 at 4:07pm —
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This morning we were contacted by the owner of a small pousada close to our project at Sernativo in Gargalheiras, Acari, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. He offered to lease or rent (with an option to buy) his pousada which would give us an exclusive to the far side of the lake. In addition, we could use it as a headquarters while implanting the mandallas and building our own hotel-fazenda (guest-ranch).
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Added by Donald Reid on November 5, 2008 at 12:30pm —
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We´re not giving up. We are trying to get together members and donors from our ONG (NGO) to form an investment club to get the mandallas started. The hotel we will build with profits from the mandallas and the school.
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I am trying to get an updated list of proposed expenses together for both the agency and for the hotel project in Acari. Note that some of these are estimated and will only be actual when we start the project. As I mentioned in the business plan, there are certain items that will…
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Added by Donald Reid on October 30, 2008 at 12:42pm —
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Tuesday we had a six hour meeting with government representatives from the agencies SEARA, IBAMA and DNOCS, and a representative from the Banco Nordeste, the bank holding the present mortgage on the ranch.
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All concerned agreed that the only plan to save the reserve was the one we offered ... implanting the mandallas and raising talipia in floating cages in the lake. The cooperative of existing residents were 8 months in arrears on their mortgage payment.
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Our ONG didn´t receive the money we…
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Added by Donald Reid on October 23, 2008 at 11:00am —
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“For those who believed that Brazil would forever be the country of the future, I have a piece of bad news. The future has finally arrived.” For years, the largest and most industrialized nation in Latin America has been known as the country of tomorrow. That slogan is out of date.
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Under the guidance of former finance minister and president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, this tenth largest economy in the world, once known for its high tariffs and even higher inflation, has entered a period of s…
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Added by Donald Reid on October 18, 2008 at 9:38am —
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