Inspired by the models of the PCI Regional Compacts of the Juruena Valley, Sorriso and Barra do Garças, the municipality of Tangará da Serra is on its way to becoming the next municipality to develop a territorial development strategy.
At the end of June, a Working Group formed by representatives of the municipality, the City Council, Unemat, the Rural Union and the Pantanal Amazonia Conservation Institute (IPAC), held its first meeting to discuss the issue.
The president of the Rural Union, Romeu Ciochetta, coordinated the meeting, which had the special participation of the Deputy Secretary of Family Agriculture of Sorriso, Márcio Luiz Kuhn, and the executive director of the PCI Institute, Fernando Sampaio.
“What we want to do here is quite aligned with the PCI. Our main focus is on actions that promote conservation, especially of our waters (watersheds) and inclusion of smallholders”, explained Ciochetta.
Tangará da Serra is about 240 kilometers west of the capital (Cuiabá) and is the fifth most populous municipality in the state, with just over 100 thousand inhabitants. The territory is located predominantly in the Cerrado, between the Tapirapuã and Parecis ranges, which delimit two important ecosystems in Brazilian territory: the Pantanal and the Chapadão do Parecis, a watershed between the Amazon and Paraguay-Paraná basins. Furthermore, indigenous reserves occupy 53% of the territory of Tangara.
The economy is based on the provision of services and agribusiness, especially soybean and sugarcane production.
The Rural Union is the focal point for managing the necessary actions which, at this moment, are concentrated on the elaboration of geo-spatial analyses with the objective of making a current and precise mapping of the territory’s occupation situation. “Next, we will look at what is possible to do and where PCI could fit in and could help. The proposal is to develop a work methodology and start taking action on top of all this”, Ciochetta stressed.
During the meeting, Fernando Sampaio presented a description of the Mato Grosso PCI Strategy and talked about the PCI Regional Compacts that have already been implemented.
“Engaging the municipalities is critical to the implementation of the PCI Strategy. Tangará da Serra is a municipality that, in a way, mirrors the reality of the state as a whole, with indigenous lands, large settlements, thriving livestock and agriculture and agribusiness. Having the opportunity to unite these stakeholders, acting in consensus to overcome challenges such as the recovery of degraded areas, springs, efficiency in the field and conservation is working for everyone to win,” he highlighted.