The consolidation of the dialogues that took place during the Jalapão Mosaic Seminar, promoted by Esmat last August, achieved effective actions with the publication of the document produced from a meeting held last November at the Almir Teixeira Vocational Education Center (Cetep) in the district of Formosa do Rio Preto (state of Bahia), which systematizes the referrals built in a participatory way throughout this year of 2025. Promoted by the Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (Esmat), the process involved magistrates, managers of protected areas, environmental agencies, representatives of quilombola and traditional communities, indigenous peoples, academy and civil society, with a focus on the integrated management of the territory and the protection of the socio-biodiversity of the Cerrado biome.
The results of the Jalapão Mosaic are articulated with the theoretical basis presented in the book: "Mosaics of Protected Areas in the Amazon", by Justice Marco Villas Boas, released during the opening of the seminar promoted by Esmat. The work proposes the concept of "Ethnoenvironmental Mosaic", analyzes the experience of the Gurupi Mosaic (located in the state of Pará) and defends the recognition of Indigenous Lands (TIs) as Protected Areas integrated into the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC), with the strengthening of management councils and effective inclusion of traditional communities in decision-making.
At the Seminar held in August, in the city of Palmas, the "Declaration of the Jalapão Mosaic Seminar " was approved, which already pointed out central axes of action: resumption of the Mosaic Council with qualified representation of the quilombola communities; urgency in the homologation and titling of quilombola territories, articulating productive chains and community-based tourism; control of disorderly and predatory tourism, with the local communities as protagonists; monitoring of environmental licensing with social participation and prior, free and informed consultation; expansion of integrated fire management, with support from volunteer brigades; and strategies to tackle the water crisis and climate change, including strengthening basin committees and ongoing environmental education programs.
Advances
The November meeting focused on transforming the political guidelines into a reference document for joint action by institutions and communities in the territory. The consolidated text deepens the reading of the challenges of the Jalapão Mosaic, organizes the consensus around the reactivation of the Mosaic Council as an integrated governance body, reinforces the centrality of the territorial rights of quilombola and traditional indigenous peoples and proposes that the planning of tourism and the monitoring of permits be guided by respect for socio-environmental safeguards and prior consultation.
By integrating technical and traditional knowledge and legal instruments, the Jalapão Mosaic process reaffirms the commitment of Esmat to human rights and environmental conservation. The initiative opens a permanent agenda of dialogue, training and monitoring to consolidate the Mosaic as a reference for participatory social and environmental governance in the Cerrado biome.
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An ethno-environmental mosaic is a set of protected areas, such as indigenous lands, conservation units and quilombola territories that are managed in an integrated way to preserve biodiversity and the livelihoods of traditional communities. The idea is to promote dialogue among different actors and ensure the conservation of the territory in a collective and participatory way, optimizing resources and joint actions.
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