We are a non-governmental environmental organization that arose from a family’s dream of contributing towards the conservation and responsible development of the River Cristalino region, in the state of Mato Grosso.
The Cristalino Ecological Foundation (FEC) was founded in 1999 and is situated in the municipality of Alta Floresta, working within the southern section of the Brazilian Amazon towards the protection of natural areas, social communication, education on conservation, scientific research and encouragement to develop a green economy.
Activities
We conduct activities to raise awareness and educate children, adolescents and young adults within the region’s communities regarding conservation, by means of the Amazon School program and especially the A Day In The Forest project, aimed at students in the region’s public municipal and state schools, with a view to developing a positive relationship between young people and the forest.
The cristalino region is of rare beauty and inestimable value to local and global biodiversity
We support scientific and applied research projects in the Cristalino Private Natural Heritage Reserves (RPPN) managed by the FEC, which border on the Cristalino State Park (PEC), so that future action can be grounded in a scientific basis, in order to best protect the ecosystem services and ensure the responsible use of the natural resources.
We promote social communication and liaison as a strategy to achieve community development and conservation of the biodiversity. Communication is one of the main tools used by the FEC to disseminate knowledge about the southern Amazon – its riches, importance and threats – to tourists, students and society in general. The social and environmental analyses carried out by the FEC and its partners facilitate the supporting of community organization to assume a leading local role.
We believe that the region has considerable potential for social and economic development, through ecotourism, organic production, agroforestry systems and other activities that can increase the opportunities for income generation in the municipalities of Novo Mundo, Alta Floresta and Carlinda and particularly for the communities located in the buffer zone of the Cristalino State Park.
There are activities and partnerships in place for the restoration of degraded areas and those around natural springs that are contributing to the preservation of the region’s water resources.