Projects
Brazil
Restoring the Mata Atlantica rainforest and establishing agroforestry plots.
© jardimfloresta.com
The Mata Atlantica is considered one of the most endangered and ecologically important eco-regions in the world. Due primarily to clearing of forests for coffee plantations and logging for hardwoods there is now only 7% of the original area remaining, most of which consists of isolated patches. The massive destruction of this 'Global Hotspot for Biodiversity' is one of the biological tragedies of the 20th century and makes preventing more loss of the Atlantic rainforest a priority for international conservation efforts.
We have established a partnership with a local NGO in the Mata Atlantica region between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo. In this area, local farming patterns reflect the huge inequalities to be found in Brazil. Wealthy landowners buy up areas of land and clear the forest illegally, to establish cattle pasture. As in the Amazon, nominal legal protection of this forest is ineffective against widespread corruption and the remote nature of the country. Poor farmers, often with no right of tenure, are also clearing forest areas illegally to establish small plantations of banana as a cash crop. Loss of fertility renders the land unproductive after a few years, so another area of forest is cleared, while grazing prevents the return of forest. The organisation trains local farmers in agroforestry methods for sustainable food production and runs a tree nursery to provide landowners with plants for reforesting land and establishing agroforestry plots. the aim is to provide greater food security and saleable commodities using sustainable production methods. The organisation aims to buy up areas of forest to protect in perpetuity when they have raised adequate funds.
(Not yet validated under CCB standard.)
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres
© Simon Ayres