Futsal: - a conservation and intercultural tool for conserving a landscape species.
This project's parent organization is Wildlife Conservation Society Brazil & Quinta do Sol
It operates in Brazil
It uses Futsal
Entered the Sport for the Environment Award
More about Futsal: - a conservation and intercultural tool for conserving a landscape species.
Our project takes place in a small rural community that is located in one of the most endangered, rich and biodiverse biomes of Brazil, the Brazilian savanna forest, Cerrado highlands. Deforestation, conversion of native habitats to crops and pasturelands, and inadequate agricultural and cattle management practices are placing great pressure on natural resources in the Cerrado biome of central-west Brazil. Nearly 60 percent of Cerrado forests have been converted to cash crops and exotic pasturelands during the last 50 years. Consequently, ecosystem services are being lost, and populations of charismatic wildlife species, like jaguar, peccary, and giant river otter are declining.
We propose to use a landscape species, white-lipped peccaries (WLP), to identify properties that have important ecological corridors, for a sustainable ranch program sponsored by our NGO partners in the region. The program promotes sustainable ranch management practices that are profitable alternatives to habitat conversion. In order to conduct a community outreach program, the project team members approached the local Futsal coach to initiate our environmental education work through the girl’s Futsal team. We started with the development of a team t-shirt, a banner to display during games, and a friendly informative brochure about the project for the fans.