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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
BrazilPACARI NETWORK
Empowered live
Resilient nation
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database
EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes
Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,
Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma
Mary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding
DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen,
Lorena de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Pacari Network, and in particular the guidance and inputs o Ms. Lourdes Cardo
Laureano. All photo credits courtesy o Pacari Network. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2013. Pacari Network, Brazil. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=8587/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: PACARI NETWORK, Brazil
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PROJECT SUMMARYPacari Network brings together 47 traditional pharmacies
and community-based organizations to cultivate medici-
nal plants, preserve traditional ecological knowledge and
health traditions, and protect the biodiversity o Brazils
Cerrado biome. In the absence o comprehensive legisla-
tion recognizing traditional health practices, Pacari has mo-
bilized medicinal plant producers and local health practitio-
ners to develop sel-regulation.
Standards have been put in place to regulate the prepara-
tion o traditional remedies, saety and sanitary conditionsor plant processing, and sustainable harvesting techniques.
Through its Pharmacoepia o People o the Cerrado, Pacari
has developed a unique system o documenting traditional
knowledge involving the participation o over 260 tradi-
tional health providers. The health benets rom the initia-
tive extend to more than 3,000 poeple per month. Medici-
nal plant cultivation and the operation o small pharmacies
also provide jobs and sources o income.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012
FOUNDED: 1999
LOCATION: Minas Gerais, Gois, Tocantins and Maranho
BENEFICIARIES: 47 community-based organizations
BIODIVERSITY: The Cerrado biome
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 6
Biodiversity Impacts 8
Socioeconomic Impacts 8
Policy Impacts 10
Sustainability 11
Replication 11
Partners 12
PACARI NETWORKBrazil
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The Cerrado
ocated on the plateaus o Brazils central high plains in the north-
ast o the country, the Cerrado is a vast tropical savannah that
pans the states o Gois, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Tocantins and
Maranho. Covering nearly 800,000 square miles, this biome covers
pproximately 21 per cent o Brazils land area. The Cerrado is the
worlds most biologically rich savannah, home to over 10,000 species
plants, almost hal o which are endemic to the Cerrado, as well as
number o endemic bird and mammal species. The Cerrado also
eeds three o the major water basins in South America: the Amazon,
araguay and So Francisco Rivers.
Despite its high level o biodiversity, the Cerrado remains one o
he least protected savannahs in the world. Although in theory the
Cerrado is protected to a degree by Brazils Forest Code, this law is
oorly enorced, and less than two per cent o the Cerrado is ormally
rotected in national parks or conservation areas. Until recent
ecades, the Cerrados main inhabitants were indigenous peoples
nd small-scale armers who survived primarily by subsistence
arming, clearing small areas o land to grow crops and raise cattle.
However, the 1960s marked the beginning o the expansion o large
cale commercial agriculture across the Cerrado. In the decades
ince then, Brazil has become one o the worlds greatest producers
nd exporters o soybeans, much o which is grown in the Cerrado.
Over the past 25 years, some 35 per cent o the Cerrado has beenleared o its native vegetation to support large-scale agricultural
nd livestock production, and its important biodiversity continues
o be overlooked in avour o agricultural expansion.
Medicinal plants and traditional healers of the Cerrado
One group o people that does not take the Cerrados biodiversity
or granted is the raizeiros (and raizeiras) traditional olk-healers
the Cerrado biome who use the regions medicinal plants to
prepare home remedies or a variety o ailments and diseRaizeiros traditional knowledge is passed down rom genera
to generation, and they hold detailed knowledge o local na
resources and techniques or plant collection. The traditional e
o the raizeiros is to respond to the health needs o their commun
accepting small payments or products in exchange, and reque
providing their services ree o charge. The knowledge and tradi
o the traditional healers represent an intangible cultural her
that deserves to be preserved along with the Cerrado biome i
Recognising this, a civil society network was established in 199
preserve the biodiversity o the Cerrado by promoting the legitim
o the traditional healers and communities that rely on its na
resources.
Articulao Pacari
The Pacari Network (Articulao Pacari) was born ou
participatory research carried out by two civil society netw
the Cerrado Network, which brings together more than 300
society organizations working or the promotion o sustain
development and conservation o the Cerrado, and the Medi
Plants Network o South America. The aim o this collabora
was to identiy opportunities or and challenges acing
organizations working with medicinal plants in the region. From
diagnostic beginning, the Pacari Network emerged organically
support system or these local groups. With the help o internatdonors, including the UNDP-implemented Global Environm
Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP), and in partne
with relevant government ministries, the network has evolved
the past decade to ll a variety o unctions: rom documen
and promoting the work o traditional olk-healers, gatherers,
producers; to improving processing practices and helping produ
to collectively market their products; and nally to increasing
shared bargaining power in advocating or more avourable po
and legislation concerning medicinal plants.
Background and Context
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oday, Pacari Network brings together 47 community organizations
hat promote traditional medicine and the sustainable use o the
Cerrados resources, in ten regions throughout the states o Minas
Gerais, Gois, Tocantins and Maranho. In addition to protecting
ative plant species used in the preparation o traditional medicines,
he network has been able to inuence national legislation to
ecognize the practice o traditional medicine, and to stem the loss
traditional knowledge that occurs when the chain o transmission
etween generations is broken.
he networks membership includes several social groups that
re marginalized in Brazil, such as smallholder armers, gatherers,
grarian reorm settlers, womens groups, people receiving immigrant
nd health benets, coconut palm workers, and community
rganizations representing Aro-Brazilians and indigenous
eoples. Ninety per cent o the networks members are women.
raining opportunities are oered to all o these social groups and
ommunity organizations, as are opportunities or participation in
he management o Pacari Network.
Organizational Framework
Community organizations involved in the Pacari Net
meet annually at a general assembly, where they elect 19
representatives (known as the Pacari Association), review
networks budget, renew membership, and evaluate past activ
In addition to the Pacari Association, the networks organizat
ramework includes regional organizers and a Board o Directo
each region where the network operates there is a regional orgawhose responsibility it is to integrate local groups into reg
activities and inorm them o the decisions o the national netw
The Board o Directors is comprised o a senior manager, a ge
secretary, a treasurer, an audit committee, and their substitutes,
whom are elected or a three-year term. Four members o the b
are in charge o policy ormulation or the Pacari Network, w
there are two executive coordination advisors who are endorse
the general assembly. Policy coordination o the Pacari Netwo
currently carried out by our women, representing a womens gr
agrarian reorm settlers, an Aro-Brazilian community organiza
and amily armers respectively.
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Key Activities and Innovations
he three pillars o the Pacari Networks work are: promoting the
ustainable collection and cultivation o medicinal plants; introducing
mproved, more sanitary techniques in community pharmacies; and
nhancing the preservation and communication o the wealth o
nowledge held by traditional healers, to ensure that it is passed
on to the next generation. Specic activities o the network include
participatory research, acilitating knowledge exchange between
ommunities, building the capacity o its members, producing and
ecording knowledge on traditional medicine, and participating in
public policy ormulation.
Activities are inormed by the extensive participatory research
arried out at the beginning o the networks existence to identiyhe most pressing needs o the community-based organizations
nd traditional healers who rely on the Cerrados rich biodiversity.
Major concerns that were identied by this research included the
perceived lack o legitimacy o the practice o traditional medicine,
hreats to communities access to biodiversity, the need to protect
nd preserve traditional knowledge, and the need to develop
ncome strategies adapted to the realities o the Cerrados rural
ommunities. Pacari Networks programming is tailored to respond
o these needs and challenges.
Community pharmacies
A major element o Pacari Networks work is supporting communitypharmacies to modernize their processing techniques and
promote good health practices. The network currently supports
1 community pharmacies where home remedies are prepared
ollectively by community groups. Each community pharmacy has
ts own site that is open to the public. The structure usually consists
o one or two rooms, a bathroom, and a garden o medicinal plants.
Community pharmacies produce some 14 orms o home remedies,
ncluding tinctures, syrups, vinegar medicinal ointments, creams,
oaps, pills or medicinal gums, candy or jelly medicines, medicated
oils, powders and teas. About 70 dierent plant species are use
produce an average o 40 dierent medicines. Approximately 4
cent o the plants used are endemic to the Cerrado.
Most community pharmacies are operated by women typica
group o three to six raizeiras. While Pacari Network provides sup
or these pharmacies, they remain largely sel-sustaining busine
that are individually managed by the local healers or commu
In many communities, these pharmacies are the rst port o
or healthcare, and remedies are sold at low cost and reque
donated to those who cannot pay. Thus they provide an esse
service to the rural communities they serve. Revenue rom the
o remedies sustains the pharmacies work.
Despite the importance o the work undertaken by t
pharmacies, they operate inormally and are not recognise
public laws or policies. As these pharmacies are unregulated,
legitimacy is unclear and their access to local natural resources i
protected. Pacari Network aims to improve the recognition o t
pharmacies by providing training in best practices, sanitation
management o medicinal plants. Throughout this moderniza
process, the traditional ethos o the raizeiras is maintained. Re
and procedures have been recorded and rationalised, and rec
are still shared openly with community members in cases wher
remedy is sae enough and simple enough to be made at home
To date, one national educational course and six local educat
courses o approximately 200 hours o instruction each have b
provided to the raizeiras. One o the main results o these courses
the beginning o collective elaboration o criteria or quality co
or the preparation o remedies in community pharmacies. To d
these courses have trained 249 women and 28 men, contribu
to the technical and institutional strengthening o comm
organizations and the creation o the Sel-Regulation o Tradit
Medicine policy guide, outlined at length below.
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Self-Regulation of traditional medicine
Compliance with the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agencys (ANVISA)
est manuacturing practices regulations is a costly process that
s designed to benet large pharmaceutical companies with the
esources to conduct efcacy studies or their products. This is a
rocess that most community-based groups such as the Pacari
Network cannot aord.
o overcome this challenge, Pacari Network developed its owntandards or ensuring sustainable harvesting and quality control
home-made drug production. This set o standards, called Sel-
egulation o Traditional Medicine, orms the basis or a 200-hour
ourse provided to local communities that trains them on the best
way to extract herbal plants without harming the environment,
nd on how to improve their manuacturing process. The policy is
omprised o three major saety principles.
he rst saety principle sets a standard or the quality o the plants
o be used in the preparation o traditional medicines. As part o the
mplementation o this principle, all 47 community organizations
nvolved have adopted sustainable harvesting techniques or native
lants.
he second principle calls or the adoption o best practices in the
reparation o traditional medicine. The criteria or these practices
were dened collaboratively between 39 community organizations,
nd aim to improve the structure and sanitary conditions o
ommunity pharmacies where the remedies are prepared. This
s achieved through strict hygienic practices and the precise
measurement and weighing o all materials used in the creation o
raditional remedies.
he third principle calls or the identication o traditional medicines
ounded on traditional knowledge passed between generations.his principle led to the development o a unique system or
ecording traditional knowledge, called the Pharmacopoeia o the
eople o the Cerrado, and a book o the same name that catalogues
he knowledge and remedies o some 262 healers involved in the
etwork.
The Pharmacopoeia of the People of the Cerrado
The Pharmacopoeia o the People o the Cerrado is a ramew
or registering and recording traditional knowledge associated
biodiversity. The system was adopted by local communities
traditional healers as a means o saeguarding their rights to ac
and use the Cerrados biodiversity, and is based on eld rese
carried out between 2001 and 2005 in the states o Minas Ge
Gois, Tocantins and Maranho. A book drawn rom the knowlegathered was published in 2009, authored by 262 raiz
representing community pharmacies. The book includes a we
o inormation on species identication, descriptions o w
plants can be ound and their ecological relationships, descript
o the parts o each plant that can be used in remedies, techniq
or sustainable collection, and inormation on medicinal uses
toxicity.
The Pharmacopoeia o the People o the Cerrado is intended
precursor to the development o a series o peoples pharmacopo
covering dierent biomes. Pacari Network sees the developm
o its Pharmacopeia as a political tool by which to achieve
social and political recognition o traditional medicine pract
by local communities and indigenous peoples. Furtherm
the Pharmacopoeia plays an important role in the preventio
biopiracy. Having a detailed account o the traditional medi
uses o plants endemic to the Cerrado asserts the rights o l
peoples to access and use their local biodiversity and associ
knowledge, and grants a degree o protection under internati
intellectual property laws.
Eco-friendly cosmetic products
Pacari Network has also supported the development o produc
chains, based on native plants, to create marketable productsgenerate local jobs and income. The network now markets a ra
o Pacari Cerrado eco-riendly cosmetics, made rom plants o
in the region. Oils rom the macaba, pequi, and gueroba plant
cold pressed by a women-led community agribusiness in Buri
Gois, using raw materials sustainably gathered by armers in
Serra Dourada region. Gueroba oil has a delicate ragrance
moisturizing properties, and is used to produce a range o body
moisturizing lotion, soaps and hair products.
The importance of biodiversity is an everyday fact of life for ordinary people. As such, governme
officials must effectively promote the full participation of indigenous and local communities
both the processes of developing strategic plans for the conservation of biodiversity and in th
application of financial resources mobilized for their implementation.
Ms. Lourdes Cardozo Laureano, Coordinator, Pacari Network
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Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS
ince the 1960s, the Cerrado has experienced increasing
environmental degradation as large swaths o orest are cleared
o grow soy, raise cattle, or or eucalyptus plantations (see below.)
This large-scale conversion to agriculture is devastating or the
ich biodiversity o the Cerrado, and also threatens the livelihoods
nd traditions o communities and healers that rely on the
natural resources o the Cerrado or their daily needs. As such, the
preservation o the regions biodiversity and the wellbeing o its
raditional communities are intricately connected. The communities
nvolved in the Pacari Network recognise this and have taken a
number o steps to ensure that their activities have minimal impacton medicinal plants in the wild.
One such step was to identiy species o ora most in danger o
extinction in the Cerrado so that special care could be given to
hese plants. Working rom the comprehensive list o 264 distinct
plant varieties identied in the Pharmacopoeia, Pacari Network
established a set o criteria or identiying the ten most threate
species o ora. This set o criteria includes plants that mus
uprooted upon collection and plants that are in high comme
demand. Three o the most endangered species identied wEchinodorus macraphyllum, used to treat hypertension
inammation; Macrosyphonia velame, whose xylopodium are
or treating inammatory conditions; and Peritassa camp
whose seed oil is used to treat u, pain and rheumatism. Base
this identication, Pacari Network established guidelines o
monitoring and sustainable harvesting o these plants.
Aside rom promoting the sustainable harvesting o medi
plants, Pacari Network seeks to protect other natural resources to make cosmetics. With Pacaris support, two communities
developed and implemented pilot environmental managem
plans or the protected reserves that house their commun
sustainably managing a total o 120 acres within protected are
the Cerrado. Other community organizations have ocussed on
sustainable harvesting o native palm tree oil (gueroba, or Sya
oleracea Becc.) or use in cosmetic products that are sold as air t
products. In 2010-2011, palm ruits were sustainably harve
rom 18 properties belonging to armers owning approxim
20 hectares o land each, incentivizing the preservation o a
biodiversity throughout a total area o 360 hectares in the reg
The promotion o community pharmacies, each with their
medicinal plant garden, also reduces the volume o plants that be harvested rom the wild.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
Women and marginalized groups
The promotion o traditional medicine is an eective
o supporting the socioeconomic inclusion o margina
communities and indigenous peoples, oten the main ho
o traditional knowledge. In this context, Pacari Network b
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ogether community organizations representing our indigenous
peoples (the Xakriab, Patacho, Arana and Pankararu), and three
Aro-Brazilian groups rom the communities o Cedro, Buraco
and Jenipapo. The training opportunities oered to community
organizations, and the opportunities or participation in the
management o Pacari Network are extended equally to these social
groups.
Pacari Network is approximately 90 per cent women, many o
whom benet rom employment opportunities in the community
pharmacies. Those wishing to become involved in the communitypharmacies are required to undergo 200 hours o class to learn best
practices in the use and management o medicinal plants o the
Cerrado. These courses, based on the Sel-Regulation o Traditional
Medicine guidelines set by Pacari Network, have trained 249 women
and 28 men to date.
The development o the Popular Pharmacopoeia o the Cerrado was
another important training area or women, using the methodology
o popular research, whereby 262 representatives (60 per cent
o whom were women) conducted eld research, generating a
collective registry o traditional knowledge. The resulting book was
written using the eminine raizeiras rather than the more usual
raizeiros, in recognition o the majority contribution o women tohe project.
Healthcare, employment and income
Community pharmacies involved in the Pacari Network produce and
market an average o 40 dierent types o traditional remedies. These
pharmacies unction as sel-sustaining businesses that generate
obs and income or around ve women each, totalling over 120
women across the network. Their work benets an average o 7,300
ndividuals per month through community healthcare and provision
o traditional medicinal herbal remedies. As these remedies
requently sold at low cost or donated to those who cannot ao
pay, the community pharmacies represent an invaluable altern
to costly prescription drugs or poor community members.
In addition to medicines, some community organizations involv
Pacari Network have used their traditional knowledge to contri
to the networks line o natural cosmetics. The production o so
oils and body lotions derived rom gueroba oil has become a so
o employment and income or a number o women in va
Cerrado communities, while still taking special care to pres
the biodiversity o the region. The rst round o productionundertaken in 2008, using raw materials collected in 2007: 3,25
o the ruit generated 104 litres o oil, which was used to pro
our hundred 200 ml bottles o lotion. By 2012, the volum
gueroba harvested had increased to 15.5 tons, generating reve
o around USD 1,260 per month rom cosmetics sales.
The Pacari Network arranged the ofcial registry o the brand
acquired the necessary equipment or extracting gueroba oil
actively encourages the women involved to experiment and dev
new products. These cosmetics are currently being sold in ma
around the region o Serra Dourda, Gois, as well as online. The 2
2011 palm harvest generated an average income o around US
or 97 individuals, mainly women, involved in various stages oproduction cycle. Those harvesting the coconuts might expe
earn around USD 85, while those involved in cracking the coco
earn USD 70. Overall in 2010-2011, the average income per a
per crop, was USD 150. While this is still relatively low, the incom
greatly appreciated by harvesters, especially as the crop gene
income during the dry season, when the main livelihood activ
milk production does not generate any income. The network is
in the process o developing new marketing strategies with Cer
Central, a partner organization that aims to help reach new mar
in particular or Fair Trade products.
9
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POLICY IMPACTS
wo major challenges aced by Pacari Networks members are the
marginalization o their work due to the lack o any national law
ecognizing the practice o traditional medicine, and the degradation
the Cerrado biome, leaving local communities without access
o native plants or the preparation o their traditional remedies.
o address these challenges, Pacari Network actively campaigns
or the recognition o the traditional medicine practices o rural
ommunities and indigenous peoples. The hope is that this will
vercome both challenges: that in achieving recognition o these
ractices, the rights o healers and communities to their local natural
esources will be recognized and saeguarded, which in turn will
ncourage the sustainable management o these resources. As it
tands, the current Brazilian policy or herbal medicine products is
ocused mainly on exotic plants. The government has made little
ort to date to promote the use o native Brazilian plants, side-
ning community-based initiatives like those represented by Pacari
Network.
Members o Pacari Network make a great eort to participate inhe development and implementation o Brazilian public policies
elated to local communities and to the conservation o the Cerrado,
nd particularly in trying to achieve a convergence o interests,
s these policies tend to be handled in a ragmented manner by
ierent ministries o the ederal government. Pacari Network
ctively encourages the participation o its members in the public
olicy sphere, providing updates on policy developments, preparing
roposals, and identiying community leaders to participate in
orums.
acari Network is a member o the National Policy Committee or
Medicinal Plants and Herbal Medicines, in which it represents the
Cerrado biome. The group has contributed signicantly to policiesstablished by the Committee, successully lobbying or the inclusion
a guideline that aims to increase the promotion and recognition
popular practices in the use o medicinal plants and home
emedies. Pacari Network is also a member o the National Policy
Commission or Sustainable Development o Indigenous Peoples
nd Traditional Communities, where it advocates or ensuring access
o health services that match the sociocultural characteristics o local
ommunities. Additionally, the group participated in the National
Commission on the Plan or a Sustainable Cerrado, coordinated by
he Ministry o the Environment, and contributed to drating the
ustainable Cerrado Programme, which implements policies or the
ustainable use o medicinal plants.
hrough its own work too, Pacari Network is developing a legal
ramework with the goal o ormulating specic legislation to govern
he use o popular and traditional medicinal plants. The central ocus
this ramework is ensuring local communities customary rights to
ractice the traditional medicine o the Cerrado are protected. Pacari
s also campaigning or the ormal recognition o the trade o the
aizeiras o the Cerrado as an element o intangible cultural heritage
nder Brazilian law. To this end, Pacari has developed a Protection
lan which aims to oster a partnership between government and
ommunities to protect this element o cultural heritage.
Key elements o the plan include:
1. Support or the transer o knowledge to younger genera
through the creation o the Peoples University o the Cerr
Work towards this has already begun through the provisio
extensive training to traditional healers.
2. Development o specic legislation or the use o popular
traditional medicinal plants.
3. Recognition o traditional healers and raizeiras right to determination.
4. Continued development o the Pharmacopoeia o the Peop
the Cerrado.
5. The inclusion o home remedies in the local market and thro
direct sales by raizeiras.
6. Strengthening o sel-organization o the Cerrado raizeiras
healers.
7. Adoption o eective action to preserve the Cerrado b
through its sustainable use.
8. Protection o the collective rights oraizeiras and their tradit
knowledge associated with the use o the biodiversity o
Cerrado.
9. Demarcation o areas or the community collection o medplants (i.e. extractive reserves or raizeiras.)
The Pharmacopoeia is also a tool or inuencing policy, as it has
used to drive orward the social recognition o traditional med
practiced by local communities and indigenous peoples.
Pharmacopoeia was recognized by the Ministry o the Environm
as a technical tool or the implementation o the Conventio
Biological Diversity (CBD) in Brazil; the book includes a orew
by the Secretary or Biodiversity and Forests at the Ministry o
Environment.
The group has also done much to increase the visibility o Cerrad
and led an application requesting that the Art o the Cerrado
recognized as part o Brazils Cultural Heritage o a Spiritual Na
at the Institute o Historical and Artistic Heritage o the Minist
Culture. The goal was to ensure the preservation o the art o he
itsel, urther helping to maintain the continuity o the trans
traditional knowledge associated with biodiversity.
Pacari Network also believes it is important to be inor
about relevant international agreements to strengthen its p
involvement. In this context, the network was represented
member o the Brazilian delegation to the Tenth Conerenc
the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biological Diversi
Nagoya, Japan, 2010. Pacari Network also requested accreditaas an advisory organization to the Intergovernmental Comm
or the Saeguarding o Spiritual Cultural Heritage o the Un
Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNES
Pacari Network intends to ask that the Art o Healers be inclu
in UNESCOs Urgent Saeguarding List and that the Po
Pharmacopoeia o the Cerrado be named as a Good Saeguar
Practice. Receiving the Equator Prize 2012, meanwhile, prov
great visibility or Pacari Networks work at the international
and has had benecial repercussions or Pacaris work, especia
contributing to public policy ormulation.
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Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITYince its inception in 1999, Pacari Network has received support
rom a number o organizations and government agencies to carry
ut activities such as meetings, exchanges, courses, and research,
nd to produce publications. The main sustainability strategy o the
roup relies on decentralization and preserving the autonomy o the
ommunity organizations that comprise it. This way, even i there is
ot enough unding or a collective project, individual community
rganizations continue to exist and may carry out projects and
xchanges among themselves. For example, the community
harmacies represented in the Pacari Network continue to unction
s individual, sel-sustaining businesses. The continued provision oapacity building in various elds is critical to ensuring this, however.
he autonomy o these community organizations is evident in their
ndividual abilities to create and market their traditional medicines.
en o these community organizations have taken the initiative in
aising their own unds to manage projects, which has improved
oth their capacity or production and their visibility, and has given
hem the opportunity to share their knowledge with other groups.
Pacari Network aims to urther expand its sustainability strategi
developing products under the label Pacari Cerrado Eco-Prod
that would be well-suited to the Fair Trade market. One such exa
o this is their line o palm oil-based cosmetics. This strate
being developed in partnership with the Central Cooperative o
Cerrado, and Pacari Network hopes to soon expand the marketi
these products and involve more community organizations.
REPLICATION
Pacari Network seeks to expand its work and messagin
communities working in other biomes outside the Cerrado thaalso working to preserve traditional knowledge and advoca
or their right to practice traditional medicine. This ambition
reected in the creation o a national network, ormed during
Peoples Summit alongside the UN Conerence on Sustain
Development (Rio+20) in 2012, called the Biomes Medical Netw
This network is comprised o ve community-based initia
representing ve dierent biomes o Brazil: the Cerrado savan
the Pantanal wetlands, the Atlantic Forest, the Caatinga shrub
and the Pampas plains. The primary goals o this network a
ollows: to inuence public policies to ensure the customary r
o local communities to practice traditional medicine; to advo
or specic legislation on the use o traditional medicinal plan
achieve legal recognition o traditional remedies as valid commhealth practices; and to record the traditional uses o medi
plants in the orm o popular pharmacopoeias. The plan is or
biome to ormulate its own pharmacopoeia, modelled ater Pa
Cerrado example.
Pacari Network also makes an eort to promote knowle
exchange through meetings and workshops at the local, regi
and international levels. One such event, the Fourth Annual Mee
o Midwives and Healers o the Cerrado, was attended by some
people. The network also requently presents its work at governm
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: PACARI NETWORK, Brazil
12/13
1212
nd civil society events. For instance, it recently participated in a
ational Meeting or Dialogue and Convergence o Agroecology,
nvironmental Health and Justice, at which more than 300 amily
armers were present. The Pacari Networks community pharmacies,
meanwhile, are regularly visited by other community groups,
chools, universities and NGOs; our o these pharmacies recently
eceived visits rom representatives rom the Uruguayan Centre or
uitable Technologies (CEUTA).
PARTNERS
he Pacari Network has partnered with a number o organizations
working in the Cerrado biome, including:
The Institute or Society, Population and Nature (ISPN) (national
host institution or the UNDP-implemented Global Environment
Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP)): Pacari Network has
had several community projects approved by the SGP, and
received a grant o USD 50,000 to help und its work. This grant
was essential or strengthening linkages among the various
community organizations that orm the network. Several o
these community groups have used these unds to implement
small, independently managed projects related to the traditional
use and sustainable management o medicinal plants native
to the Cerrado, as well as to conduct research and or product
development in their community pharmacies. Pacari Network
provided these community organizations with guidance and
technical advice. The ISPN also provides advice and support to
the Pacari Networks Sel-Regulation o Traditional Medicine
policy project.
The Lutheran Foundation o Diakonia (FLD): FLD is an entity
linked to the Evangelical Lutheran Church that works incommunity development, supporting groups and projects
throughout Brazil. FLD supports the Pacari Network through a
project ocussed on institutional strengthening.
The Central Cooperative o the Cerrado: This cooperative o
community organizations assists communities in gaining access
to the Fair Trade market. Currently the cooperative is assisting
35 community organizations to develop income-generating
activities rom the sustainable use o biodiversity o the Cerrado.
Products include oods, crats, cosmetics and vegetable oils.
Ecumenical Coordination o Services (CES): CES is a cooper
entity that operates throughout Brazil supporting commu
organizations that work in community development,
Trade, the sustainable use o biodiversity, education o chil
and youth, and social entrepreneurship. CES supported
Pacari Network in two projects that aided in the creation
publication o the Pharmacopoeia o the People o the Cerr
The Secretariat o Family Agriculture o the Ministry o AgraDevelopment (SAF/MDA): The Secretariat o Family Agricu
supports the Pacari Networks gueroba venture, used in
manuacture o cosmetics and other natural products.
The Association o Small Farmers and Assistance to M
in Turmalina (APLAMT): This association provides techn
logistical and managerial support or projects being carried
by the community organizations represented by Pacari Netw
Cerrado Network: This civil society was instrumental in
creation o the Pacari Network, which in turn continues to
an active role within it (Pacari was recently elected to a
coordinator role within the Cerrado Network.) The network b
together civil society organizations working or the promo
o sustainable development and conservation o the Cerr
More than 300 organizations are represented, including
workers, gatherers, indigenous peoples, quilombolas, raize
coconut breakers, and shermen, among others. The dive
o its membership is undoubtedly the networks greatest as
In 2002, Pacari Network was given critical support by
Network o Medicinal Plants o the Southern Cone (or Cone
the geographic region composed o the southernmost are
South America) supported by the International Developm
Research Centre (IDRC). Other networks Pacari has worked include the Exchange Network or Alternative Technolo
(Rede de Intercmbio de Tecnologias Alternativas) base
Belo Horizonte, and the Medicinal Plants Network o S
America. A partnership is currently being developed with
Green House, a Brasilia-based NGO that manages public u
or projects carried out with the ederal government.
Policy makers in Brazil must act responsibly and ethically to safeguard the immense cultura
and environmental heritage of our country, especially with regard to legislation relating
protected areas, and guaranteeing the right to free, prior and informed consent, so that th
country may become worthy of exercising leadership in the field of biodiversity conservation an
open dialogue with the public about the strategic plan for biodiversity
Ms. Lourdes Cardozo Laureano, Coordinator, Pacari Network
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: PACARI NETWORK, Brazil
13/13
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FURTHER REFERENCE
Pacari Network website: http://www.pacari.org.br/
Pharmacoepia o the People o the Cerrado: http://www.pacari.org.br/armacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/livro-armacopeia-pop
do-cerrado/
Pacari Network. Magical moisturizing beauty products made rom Gueroba. Produced with the UNDP-implemented Global Env
ment Facility Small Grants Programme and progreso network. http://www.biodiversity-products.com/media/documents/product
4c0b298e54508200e58aaec7b49d8.pd
http://www.pacari.org.br/http://www.pacari.org.br/farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/livro-farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/http://www.pacari.org.br/farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/livro-farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/http://www.pacari.org.br/farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/livro-farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/http://www.pacari.org.br/farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/livro-farmacopeia-popular-do-cerrado/http://www.pacari.org.br/http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348164157.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/winners/93/casestudy/case_1370356358.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/winners/103/casestudy/case_1370356422.pdf