“The world is living through a real climate crisis, and traditional populations are the solution to this problem. So, we understand that the real culprits of the crisis must—and have an obligation—to pay this debt. And when I talk about paying this debt, it’s about securing funding for traditional populations, whether they are riverine communities (ribeirinhos), quilombolas, or indigenous peoples, because they are the populations who truly hold the solution, which is the standing forest.

But not just the forest. To guarantee the standing forest, the living forest, we need to understand that within this forest there is fauna, there is flora, and there is human life. And to guarantee the standing forest, we must first guarantee human life. And to guarantee human life, we must guarantee the territory: titled quilombola communities, recognized indigenous villages, recognized traditional populations, and access to State policies—which are always very deficient for our communities.

“I believe I was an activist even before I was born. I come from a family of activists, because we understand that fighting for the collective is always the solution, you know? Fighting for collective access to policies is always the solution.

My family had its entire life changed through education, through access to education—which was access guaranteed by the social movement, by the quilombola movement in the state of Pará. This changed my life, it changed my family’s life, it changed the reality of my territory. Because, beyond me, my sisters, and my mother, many other women were able to gain access to education.

And education… whoever has education, whoever has information, has almost everything. So, we understand that all the struggles, all the strategies designed to guarantee any collective right, this is essential, this is fundamental.”