The United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany join the call for scientific expeditions

With new international contributions, the Amazon+10 initiative, announced in collaboration with CNPq, now has a total funding of approximately R$94 million.s

The four foreign agencies, called Scientific Expeditions, launched in November by the Amazon+10 initiative in partnership with the National Council for Science and Technology Development (CNPq), are open for registration until April 29, 2024. The British Council and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), from the United Kingdom, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), from Switzerland, and the Bavarian University Center for Latin America (BALAD) from Germany.

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

CNPq and the 19 state research support foundations involved in the announcement made R$59.2 million available to fund research aimed at expanding scientific knowledge of socio-biodiversity in little-known areas of the world's largest tropical forest. With financial contributions from four international agencies – 30 thousand euros, 5 million pounds sterling (4 million pounds from UKRI and £1 million from the British Council) and 1 million Swiss francs – the so-called scientific expeditions now have a total funding of about 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 thousand to fund 6 scholarships, about R$2.1 million.

The so-called Amazonia BR/UK Workshops Grants were launched in 2023, aiming 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.

The National Council of State Research Support Foundations (CONFAP) has signed MoUs with SNSF, BAYLAT and UKRI for collaboration within the scope of the Amazon+10 initiative between three international institutions and FAPs.

About Scientific Expedition Notice

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 authorization requested by the collaborator in Brazil from competent bodies (guidelines on the website of CNPq) and appropriate licenses (collection, access to genetic material, shipment of material abroad, etc.) must be issued 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.