Mini-documentary shows the importance of black female leaders in forest conservation

environmental Protection

The mini-documentary “There are standing forests, there are women” was produced by Nina Fidelis

Brasilia DF) – Cine Brasília, a traditional cinema in the federal capital, will show this Monday (27th), at 8pm, a special screening of the mini-documentary “There are forests standing, there are women”, by Nina Fidelis. The production is part of the campaign of the same name that aims to value black female leaders in Brazilian forests.

The film was produced by Oxfam Brasil in partnership with the Interstate Movement of Babaçu Coconut Breakers (Miqcb), the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS) and the National Coordination of Quilombos Articulation (Conaq).

The work pays tribute to names such as Maria Nice Machado, Dona Nice, CNS Women’s Secretary, as well as Maria de Jesus Bringelo, the late Dona Dijé. Women who dedicated their lives to fighting for the rights of rural people and the conservation of forests and rivers.

“The film ‘Tem Floresta em Pé, Tem Mulher’ takes place during Black Consciousness Month in the country, an opportune date to celebrate black women defenders of the Amazon. It will be an important political moment for organizations to dialogue with government representatives”,

highlights Bárbara Barboza, coordinator of Racial and Gender Justice at Oxfam Brasil.

It also presents women and their important care, whether for family, home, work and our biomes. Quilombola women, extractivists, indigenous people and coconut breakers, who are on the front line of the fight for their territories and for climate justice. Among the characters portrayed are women from the Nossa Senhora da Boa Esperança Community, in Rio Pagão (PA), who are part of the National Council of Extractive Populations.

“In 2021, the women who make up the CNS identified the great need to give visibility to the work we develop within our territories and also in the organizations where we operate. Based on the need to give visibility to the female role in the fight to defend the forest for climate balance, the ‘Nices and Digés Project – Black Women in Defense of the Forest of Life’ was created. The mini-documentary is part of one of the stages of this project”,

explains Letícia Moraes, recently elected vice-president of the CNS.

Letícia Moraes, who at the time was responsible for the CNS Youth Secretariat, is one of the women portrayed in the work, alongside Leida Moraes and Marina Ferreira, also residents of the Nossa Senhora da Boa Esperança Community.

“For me it is very emblematic and significant to be part of this work, from the point of view of saying: here in the forest there are women and the forest exists because there are women who dedicate their lives to it”,

highlights Letícia.

For the vice-president of the CNS, this is necessary work to recognize the historical role of black women in the forests.

“For me, this is a space of guarantees, of rights, of visibility, but also of confrontation. It serves to show the need to discuss the climate emergency with women as protagonists, after all, we are on the front line within our territories in this fight”,

says Letícia Moraes.

Big names

The special session this Monday will be followed by a debate with leaders from extractive and quilombola communities, as well as special guests.

The debate will be mediated by Bárbara Barboza and will have as guests Edel Moraes, National Secretary for Traditional Peoples and Communities and Sustainable Rural Development of the Ministry of the Environment; Roberta Eugênio, Executive Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment; Selma Dealdina, Executive Secretary of the National Coordination of Quilombos Coordination (CONAQ); Maria Edinalva, deputy general coordinator of the Interstate Movement of Babaçu Coconut Breakers (MIQCB).

*With information from consultancy

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