The company Evoltz Participações announced last Friday (24) that it will support vulnerable people in the territory of Calha Norte do Rio Amazonas and in Terra do Meio in Altamira, Pará. These populations, weakened by their social and economic conditions, tend to suffer even more with the advance of the covid-19 pandemic across the country, especially with the capacity of hospital beds in the capitals Manaus and Belém, as well as in other cities in the Northern region, which now need urgent aid initiatives to prevent people from contamination and further aggravation of this situation.

In order to collaborate, the company recently approved a project to strengthen and expand the Origens Brasil program, a network that connects these producers in the Amazon to companies and consumers, seeking to value the “standing forest” economy and the people who live on it. The project will be supported with contributions of up to R$ 5 million to be carried out by Norte Brasil Transmissora de Energia, a partnership between Evoltz and Eletronorte, as a counterpart to financing received from BNDES.

Based on this partnership, the program works to facilitate support to penurious organizations. Part of the network's member producers are located in the Calha Norte region of Pará, which protects the largest and most preserved continuous forest area in the state, and is home to indigenous peoples, quilombolas, riverside dwellers and family farmers who inhabit the protected areas of the territory.

Another part is in Terra do Meio, a vast region of forests located in the Xingu River basin in Altamira (PA), where indigenous people inhabit and hundreds of families live by the river banks. The locality includes a mosaic of protected areas of almost 8.5 million hectares, forming the Corredor Xingu of Socio-Environmental Diversity.

Besides the Covid-19 pandemic, these peoples suffer historical pressures from illegal and predatory activities in their lands, a situation worsened by the current crisis and government, which reduced the crime inspection such as land grabbing, mining and deforestation. Thus, to reduce impacts, the company will allocate a total of R$ 689.5 thousand, of which R$ 466.5 thousand will finance the emergency plan of the Cooperativa Mixta dos Povos and Traditional People and Communities of Calha Norte - COOPAFLORA and a little more than R$ 223 thousand for the emergency plan of the Cantinas da Terra do Meio Network, both prepared with support from IMAFLORA and ISA, respectively, technical support entities to local organizations.

Part of the amount invested will allow the purchase of 2,664 basic baskets with food, personal hygiene and cleaning items for 1,500 families, resulting in approximately 12 thousand people impacted in the region, who will not need to travel to cities in search of these items.

Another part of the donation will support the promotion of agro-extractive activities of these populations, generating income (standing forest economy) and allowing families to remain in their communities, in a context where many are unable to access their social benefits in the city without risking contamination of the entire community.