Strategic projects | Ecology Center Pilot Project
Tropical Ecology Research Group
In 2024, Serrapilheira supported the creation of a transdisciplinary research group in tropical ecology. The initiative was part of the institute’s effort, launched several years ago, to study the feasibility of creating a center focused on research and public policy in ecology and the environment. This pilot project became an independent institution, called the Relva Institute, which began to take shape in 2025 and is dedicated to producing science applied to public policy.
Biodiversity and ecosystem functions in tropical biomes are rapidly deteriorating and are still poorly understood by decision-makers. As the country with the greatest biodiversity in the world, Brazil has the potential to become a global leader in tropical ecology, promoting innovative scientific solutions to urgent environmental challenges.
The pilot project’s research group included experts in hydrology, biodiversity, ecology, mathematics, climate, archaeology, anthropology, public policy, economics, and communication. One of its projects is an online geospatial platform containing data on the valuation of ecosystem services related to water, biodiversity, and carbon, which continues to be developed at the Relva Institute.
Throughout 2024, the group—comprising 13 scientists—worked on two different fronts. One focused on identifying the center’s main knowledge gaps and long-term strategic priorities, while the other concentrated on syntheses yielding more immediate results.
Meeting of the scientists who helped build the Ecology Center pilot, in February, in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Renan Olivetti
Meet the participating scientists:
Gabriela Prestes Carneiro
Federal University of Western Pará/ Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France
By cross-referencing various data, such as those from MapBiomas, IBGE and FUNAI, the group found that 57% of Brazil’s agricultural income is generated thanks to rainfall originating in Amazonian Indigenous Lands. These lands produce the rainfall that supplies 80% of Brazil’s agricultural activities.
The development of this new knowledge, grounded in validated data available since 2020, led to the preparation of a technical note, which was released in early December of 2024. The project was led by hydrologist Caio Mattos and mathematician and meteorologist Marina Hirota, both from UFSC, with the paper co-authored by 10 scientists.
Several leading scientists also endorsed the technical note, including climatologist Carlos Nobre, physicist Paulo Artaxo, anthropologist Manuela Carneiro da Cunha (all from USP), economist Ronaldo Seroa da Motta (UERJ), and biologist Mercedes Bustamante (UnB). The complexity of the data analysis was made possible through collaboration among researchers from various fields and communicators, underscoring the importance of transdisciplinary teamwork.
The infographic in the technical note illustrates the impact of water from Amazonian Indigenous Lands on other regions of Brazil. Photo: Joana C. Carvalho and Maria Carlos Oliveira
The Biodiversity COP
The Tropical Ecology Research Group also hosted a panel at COP16, the Conference of the Parties on Biodiversity, in Cali, Colombia. The session, titled “How to Bring Science Closer to Public Policies,” featured representatives from Colombia’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Knowledge, Innovation and Productivity, and the Humboldt Institute.
After returning from the event, we shared three key takeaways from COP16 in an opinion piece published in Folha de S.Paulo.
Gabriella Seiler (consultant for the center’s pilot), André Junqueira (participating scientist), Felipe García (Humboldt Institute, Colombia), and Marina Hirota (participating scientist) at the Biodiversity COP in Cali.
