The meeting that took place last Friday, September 29th, at the SOS Mata Atlântica Forest Experiments Center in Itu/SP, aimed to promote cooperation for the development of collaborative projects in favor of the Atlantic Forest at a regional and local. This initiative is part of the institutional strengthening project of the Atlantic Forest NGO Network made possible through the partnership between the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation and the Hempel Foundation, from Denmark.

In total, 35 representatives from organizations from the southeast and mid-west of the country participated, covering the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Camila Conti, Public Policy Analyst at Copaíba, represented the Organization.

“The network's face-to-face meetings have not occurred for years, making this moment even more significant to strengthen our ties and motivate each other in the fight for the Atlantic Forest. Furthermore, it was a crucial opportunity to share knowledge and experiences arising from the work of each organization, as well as to align the Network's position within the regional and national panorama, thus identifying priority themes for the conservation and restoration of the Atlantic Forest” – comments Camila about the event.

The first RMA Regional Meeting took place in Florianópolis, on September 14th, covering the Southern states. The next one is scheduled for October 26th in Salvador/BA, when organizations from the Northeast and North regions of the country will participate.

The Atlantic Forest Network

Founded in 1992, the Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of the Atlantic Forest – RMA, emerged from a debate within the Rio-92 Global Forum, with the participation of SOS Mata Atlântica, Association for the Preservation of the Environment of Alto Vale do Itajaí (Apremavi), Society for Research in Wildlife and Environmental Education (SPVS), Nordestina Ecology Society (SNE) and Brazilian Foundation for Nature Conservation (FBCN).

Since its founding, the Network has had a common struggle: the defense of the Atlantic Forest.

In 2023, RMA is made up of 156 affiliated organizations, distributed across 17 Brazilian states.