CPSM Guaranà nativo
How it started
The Consortium of Sateré-Mawé Producers (CPSM) was born from the Council of the Tribe (CGTSM), an organization derived from the union of the Amazonian tribe of the Sateré-Mawé (which includes 7,000 people distributed in 66 villages), in order to claim their rights and protect the Amazonian ecosystem, which represents their past and their future. Subsequently, the Tribal Council became the grassroots organization representing the Amazonian people of the Sateré-Mawé, which also fulfills the role of conduit for traditional land management.
How it is today
Today the Council takes care of the interests of the tribe and at the same time safeguards its identity and very survival. It deals with the many issues that concern the tribe and its territory, in particular as regards the protection of the ancestral forest which constitutes the home, the mother and the wealth of the tribe.
One of the activities linked to the valorisation of forest resources is the processing and sale of the native guarana: the sacred plant of the tribe, as well as a food product of great value.
To facilitate commercial practices and assistance to producers, the Tribal Council has created a Consortium of Sateré Mawé Producers, CPSM.
How it works
Environmental sustainability
The Council’s priority is the defense of the ecosystem that has always hosted the tribe.
The threats to this environment come above all from the rubber, oil and soft drink multinationals, to whose destructive rapacity the Council responds with a proposal for sustainability and enhancement based on tradition and respect for natural cycles. The Council also manages projects that benefit the tribe, such as waste treatment, eco-sustainable cultivation for self-consumption, and the breeding of native bees, essential for the pollination of the majority of Amazonian plant species.
What it generates/produces
Guarana, in the indigenous language Warana, has been cultivated for centuries in the Brazilian Amazon. Its inhabitants have called this land the “ecological and cultural sanctuary of the Sateré-Mawé waranà” and the Brazilian constitution provides that its usufruct is exclusive to the Sateré-Mawé indigenous people. This plant has white flowers and red fruits gathered in clusters and blooms in the driest season. With the rains, the fruit opens showing part of the dark seed and white pulp. The natives are the guardians of this plant, which according to the myth is a gift from the spirit of good Tupan. The cultivation method consists in collecting the seeds from the wild plants of the forest, which are transplanted and cultivated. This system has earned the Sateré Mawé guaranà recognition as a Slow Food presidium, as it refuses the artificial manipulation of the species, allowing all the natural richness of the plant to be preserved.
