The United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany join the new call for the Amazon+10 initiative

FAPESP Agency – Four foreign agencies became part of the so-called scientific expeditions launched in November. Amazon+10 initiative In association with the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), it is open for registration till April 29. They are the British Council and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), both from the United Kingdom, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), from Switzerland, and the Bavarian University Center for Latin America (Baylot), from Germany.

Institutions will support researchers from their respective countries interested in developing studies related to the Brazilian Amazon – information and details of the items that can be funded for each institution are described in Annex IX of the announcement and, in the case of UKRI supporters, in Annexes X.

CNPq and the 19 State Research Support Foundations (FAPs) involved in the announcement made R$59.2 million available to fund research aimed at expanding scientific knowledge of socio-biological diversity in little-known areas of the world's largest tropical forest. With financial contributions from four international agencies – €30,000 from Pilot, £4 million from UKRI, £1 million from the British Council and 1 million Swiss francs from the SNSF – the total funding for what is now called Scientific Expeditions is around R$ 94. million.

In addition, the British Council will invest in other activities in partnership with the Amazon + 10 initiative, including an Early Career Scholarship scheme for legal Amazon researchers in the UK. There is £360,000 to fund six scholarships, about R$2.1 million.

Launched in 2023, the so-called Amazonia BR/UK Workshops Grants aim to fund scientific workshops that support new research, projects and collaborations between Brazilian and British researchers on Amazon-related topics. The British Council provided approximately £370,000, approximately R$2.3 million, for this call. Proposals sent by January 7, 2024 are under evaluation.

National Council of State Research Support Foundations (Confap) SNSF, Baylat and UKRI signed memorandums of understanding between three international institutions and FAPs for cooperation within the scope of the Amazon+10 initiative.

About Notification

Although the Amazon rainforest is one of the largest and most pristine forests in the world, it is one of the least known biologically. Its enormous size, diversity and limited access make the task of documenting its biodiversity extremely challenging.

This announcement attempts to accurately fill two gaps, one geographic and the other taxonomic, and supports expeditions with the aim of expanding knowledge of the sociocultural diversity of the traditional peoples of the Amazon. For example, in addition to the relationship between traditional peoples' territorial dynamics and sustainable use of nature, research on the tangible and intangible heritage of ancestral, tribal and traditional peoples, documentation of indigenous languages ​​and related knowledge systems will be funded. Forest Resources.

It is important to highlight that the participation of foreign members in scientific travel research requires the authorization requested from competent bodies in Brazil (guidelines on the CNPq website) and corresponding licenses (collection, access to genetic material,). etc.) to be provided by Brazilian researchers in the group. One of the directives of this declaration is that as a way of preserving this heritage, the materials collected during scientific expeditions should be cataloged and registered with Amazonian institutions.

The final decision on the proposed projects will be announced in August 2024.

The Amazon+10 initiative is led by CONFAP and the National Secretaries of Science, Technology and Innovation Affairs (CONSECTI), and has a partnership with CNPq. The project has already allocated nearly R$100 million in resources to scientific projects in the region, coordinating research teams that integrate researchers from the Legal Amazon and other Brazilian states.

Notification is available here: www.amazoniamaidez.org.br/chamadas.