Interstate Cipozeiras Movement (MIC), Paraná State

The Interstate Cipozeiras Movement represents the cipozeiras (women that traditionally harvest Philodendron imbé and other reeds, used for weaving baskets, handbags, rope, etc.) in the Garuva and Itapoá areas in Santa Catarina State and the Guaratuba area in Paraná State.

The Movement’s mission is to link and mobilize the cipozeiras to defend and promote their ethnic and collective rights, aiming primarily at access to and preservation of their specific territory.

In the area of organization and training, the Movement has held mobilization activities through social mapping of the cipozeiras and related socio-environmental conflicts and human rights violations.

According to estimates, there are at least one thousand cipozeiras in the three counties.

The Movement is organized in groups in 18 communities that communicate through monthly meetings. Every two months the overall coordinators talk with two representatives per community.

These meetings cover issues such as pressure against the cipozeiras, especially from agribusiness interests such as pine tree farms, beef cattle operations, and banana monoculture. These crops drastically reduce access to natural resources, especially the Philodendron imbé reed, which the women use to make handicrafts as a source of income.

One of the difficulties in fighting this situation is lack of information on the cipozeira population and its location and conflicts.

The Project

The project “Cipozeiras: Mapping Social Conflicts and Human Rights Violations” will be implemented in the municipalities (counties) of Garuva, Itapoá, and Guaratuba, through a training and capacity-building process.

The project will empower the cipozeiras technically and politically to deal with such conflicts.

At least 10 cipozeiras will receive training in the use of GPS, digital recorders, digital cameras, information on human rights and traditional communities, and organizing and systematizing data for the work.