Women and Tropics Accelerator
In response to the critical role that women play in shaping climate solutions and the acute support they need to grow their impact, Women’s Earth Alliance and Filha Do Sol are co-designing and implementing the Women in Tropics Accelerator. The Accelerator will generate measurable and sustained improvements to mangroves and surrounding communities by catalyzing women-led solutions through two interconnected projects.
Partner: Filha do Sol is a women and locally-led non-profit based in Piauí, Brazil, with the mission to regenerate nature and restore climate justice across the Tropics.
The Tropics are some of Earth's most beautiful and most threatened regions. Home to 80% of the planet's biodiversity, the tropics are key agricultural lands that the world needs to feed the 9 billion people in 2050. At the same time, 85% of the world's most impoverished people live in tropical countries. If we fail to limit global warming to 1.5 above pre-industrial levels, the temperature in many tropical communities will reach the limit of human adaptation - triggering the greatest migration waves our species has ever seen.
The Tropics are the first line of defense against climate change.
Yet, most tropical communities are left out of the global conversation.
Women are among the groups most impacted by the climate crisis in tropical communities.Women are also at the forefront of the solutions– educating children, promoting sustainable tourism, addressing pollution cleaning beaches and replanting mangroves – are women. And yet women’s work is not recognized and valued, even though they are doing the most important work in the world – strengthening relationships, building community and caring for the Earth.
Women in the Tropics are key to the healing of our planet.
OUR SOLUTION
Women’s Earth Alliance and Filha Do Sol have woven a powerful partnership to accelerate women’s leadership in the tropics of Brazil and beyond.
The Atlantic coastline of Piauí, Brazil is a place of breathtaking natural beauty, home to the Delta do Parnaíba with its mangroves and diverse ecosystems. But this stunning and fragile environment, like the tropics as a whole, are being hit particularly hard by climate change — communities in Piauí are facing rising sea levels, soil salinization, increased temperatures, water scarcity, and more.
And the impacts caused by the continued loss of their mangrove forests will be felt across the world.
In response to the critical role that women play in shaping climate solutions and the acute support they need to grow their impact, Women’s Earth Alliance and Filha Do Sol are co-designing and implementing the Women in Tropics Accelerator. The Accelerator will generate measurable and sustained improvements to mangroves and surrounding communities by catalyzing women-led solutions through two interconnected projects:
CLIMATE AND TERRITORY PROGRAM
The Parnaíba Delta Environmental Protection Area is a Federal Conservation Unit in the northeast of Brazil with unique ecological value and biodiversity. Within this 27-acre protected region, officially known as Resex Delta, a special mosaic of five traditional communities live in traditional relationship with the land and are sustained primarily by artisanal fishing and food gathering. The women in the five villages play a key role in the local economy and also diversify income generation with their handicraft, in addition to the day-to-day care of the community and their families.
As climate change intensifies, communities in the region are impacted by water salinization, increased rates of disease, and other problems that affect their ability to live sustainably and maintain strong local economies.
The women of this marine reserve, have organized themselves to take on a historic role in the environmental, health, and education agenda of their villages, demanding better policies and effective participation in a political process which has traditionally only included men. The Women's Network of the Delta Resex is the first women-led organization in the region working to to influence the management process of their territory.
WEA's Women and Tropics program supports local leaders to continue to gain capacity and influence in how environmental challenges are managed in the Parnaiba Delta, and to advance the Women's Network for the Delta Resex's agenda, including:
- Mangrove regeneration projects
- Waste management in the delta
- Water scarcity issues - salinization and purification systems
- Sand dune conservation
- Traditional handcraft revitalization and eco-tourism
- Education and skill development opportunities
ClIMATE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
The Women and Tropics Climate Entrepreneurship Program will support a cohort of 20-30 women leaders from Barra Grande and Delta do Parnaíba to refine, design, implement, and scale their projects. This action-driven training program is designed for women who have existing projects aligned with our Accelerator goals to protect and preserve the environment, support the broader community of Piauí, and bring economic stability to women and girls in the region.
The program includes:
- Skill-building, knowledge exchange, and mentorship with an action-oriented focus specifically tailored for their work
- Individual mentors and small working groups
- Alumni access to Women’s Earth Alliance — a global network of women environmental leaders and their shared struggles, wins, resources, curricula tools, case studies, and best practices.
Through the Women and Tropics Climate Entrepreneurship Program, leaders gain:
- A comprehensive action plan to strengthen and grow their water campaign/ initiative—they will be supported to complete a proposal/business plan, including impact framework and metrics, implementation strategy, timeline, and budget
- A seed grant to propel and scale their initiatives
- Professionally produced communications and media assets
- An alliance of peers and collaborators to build their work alongside
- Visibility of their work within WEA’s and Filha do Sol’s networks
- Speaking, facilitation, funding and other leadership opportunities within the Filha do Sol and WEA national and global programming
- Ongoing mentorship and access to and input into both organizations’ resources, networks, and repository of best practices
