Seeds of hope: Women's nursery reborn in Rio Grande do Sul after the floods.

In 2024, historic floods devastated Rio Grande do Sul, leaving a trail of destruction and an urgent need for reconstruction. Far from the headlines about infrastructure, true resilience began to flourish in the Filhos de Sepé settlement in Viamão. There, the Mulheres da Terra (Women of the Land) group found in agroecology and environmental restoration not only a way to heal the landscape, but to strengthen the social fabric itself. The project "Viveiro Mulheres da Terra: rebuilding the connection with Mother Earth" (Women of the Land Nursery: rebuilding the connection with Mother Earth) is proof that climate adaptation needs to be planted and cultivated locally, with the hands of those who know the ground they walk on.

“Por nosso viveiro ser muito recente, nosso trabalho está trazendo a conscientização das mudanças climáticas e apresentando uma possibilidade de recuperar nossas matas através do plantio de árvores”, explica Isabel Cristina Ribeiro Dalenogare, coordenadora do grupo.

The initiative, born from a community dream, is the realization of years of work. The women of the settlement, already protagonists in agroecological production and in the fight for the right to land, joined together to create a nursery capable of producing seedlings of native species, many of them threatened with extinction. The objective is twofold: to reforest degraded areas and revitalize agroforestry backyards, guaranteeing the biodiversity and resilience of the territory. The proposal goes far beyond producing seedlings. The project is an injection of self-esteem and unity, a catalyst for the engagement of the entire community. The group already plans to donate a thousand seedlings of native species in 2025 to the families of the settlement.

"With this planting, we encourage care for our territory, strengthening it to face climate change," adds Isabel. The strategy also involves children and young people, who are taken to schools to learn the importance of caring for nature. "We will certainly have more people aware of the problem of climate change and acting to address it by taking action to restore nature," emphasizes the coordinator.

For this seed of hope to germinate, timely and strategic support was essential. In the midst of its emergency call for Rio Grande do Sul, the Casa Socioambiental Fund allocated R$ 34,390 for the implementation of the nursery. For the community, this amount, which for many might seem small, represented an invaluable vote of confidence. An example of how partner and independent philanthropy can be the spark that ignites autonomy and empowers local solutions that generate lasting and meaningful results.