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Project_Page_Thumbnail_Brazil_Iniciativa_Verde

Cordia abyssinica

Maeopsis eminii

Olea Africana

Markhamia lutea

Croton macrostachyus

Bischofia javanica

Croton megalocarpus

Vitex keniensis

Bridelia micrantha

Trichilia emetica

Pligia unigicata

Antiaris toxicaria

Prunus Africana

Olea welwitschia

Polyscias kikuyuensis

Brazil is home to six terrestrial biomes, including the famous Amazon rainforest. Second to its biggest brother, the Atlantic Forest once covered over 1.2 million square kilometres (about a quarter of the size of the Amazon). It stretched up and down Brazil&#8217;s coastline, and covered parts of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. Being isolated from the Amazon, and located where the majority of historical human development took place, <a href="https://umsoplaneta.globo.com/sociedade/noticia/2022/10/21/bioma-mais-ocupado-pelos-brasileiros-mata-atlantica-mantem-apenas-243percent-de-sua-formacao-florestal.ghtml">around 25% of original forest cover remains, mainly in small degraded patches and protected areas</a>. No other large tropical forest ecosystem has suffered as much loss as the Atlantic Forest. Timber exploitation, sugar cane and coffee plantations, cattle ranching, and urban sprawl are the main drivers of forest loss here. Even though the rate of loss has significantly dropped in the past decades, the Atlantic Forest continues to suffer from deforestation. 
However, public authorities are acknowledging the crucial need to preserve the remaining forest: no less than 70% of the Brazilian population, as well as the remarkably rich biodiversity including many species threatened with extinction, rely on the standing forest and restoration efforts. Over 23,000 plant species, <a href="https://rainforests.mongabay.com/mata-atlantica/">40% of which are endemic to the Atlantic Forest</a>, have been recorded in the ecosystem, as well as 264 mammal species, nearly 1,000 birds, 456 amphibians, over 300 reptiles, and 350 freshwater fish. <a href="https://rainforests.mongabay.com/mata-atlantica/">A third of those species cannot be found anywhere else in the world</a>. 
Environmental organisations are strongly pushing for more ambitious action to conserve and restore degraded areas of the Atlantic Forest. And the potential for improvement is huge, especially on degraded pasture land. 
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<h2>Planting Partner</h2>
Created in 2005, <a href="https://iniciativaverde.org.br/">Iniciativa Verde</a> is a third sector organisation based in São Paulo,  Brazil, that contributes to the improvement of environmental services such as biodiversity, water and air quality. It assists in the mitigation and  adaptation to human-induced climate change through its own forest restoration projects and through partnership with local organisations. 
Iniciativa Verde recognizes the importance of scientific consistency and staying up-to-date with the latest science, directing its work towards the generation and dissemination of knowledge, as well as  supporting the formulation, implementation and promotion of public policies that can guarantee the conservation of natural ecosystems, and the wellbeing and improvement of conditions in rural communities. 
Furthermore, its projects are all developed in partnership with other third sector  institutions, teaching and research institutions, local governments, and companies in order to strengthen the sustainability of their actions. The  partners are mostly non-profit institutions whose work involves seedling production, and forest project implementation and maintenance. This project will be implemented together with <a href="https://dispersores.org/">Grupo Dispersores</a>, and in partnership with <a href="https://conservadordamantiqueira.org/">Plano Conservador da Mantiqueira</a> and <a href="https://unifei.edu.br/">UNIFEI</a>. 
<img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-7209" src="https://cms-assets.offset.earth/app/uploads/20230412144831/logo-green.png" alt="" width="200" height="39" />

This project aims to restore a 12-hectare area within the grounds of the Federal University of Itajubá in Minas Gerais. The areas involved in the project  are within the Atlantic Forest domain, the second largest biome occurring in Minas Gerais, occupying 40% of the state. However, several human actions have affected the forest areas, converting them into agricultural and urbanised areas, leaving only 9.5% of the original cover of the biome in the state, according to the 2021 Native Flora and Reforestation Map of Minas Gerais. Thus, the project contributes to the recovery of the Atlantic Forest &#8211; one of the world&#8217;s hotspots due to its  high biodiversity and state of threat.  
Additionally, the areas that will be restored by this project are currently abandoned  pastures, which means the land is unproductive and degraded. Therefore, the project will  contribute directly to forest densification locally. Also, by restoring the margins of an  existing fragment of the Atlantic Forest it will reduce the negative impacts of the edge effect on the native remnant, protecting the remaining fragment further. Because the areas are sloping, the recovery of native vegetation will also  promote the protection and stability of the soil, which is particularly important since the project is adjacent to a body of water and so the soil is prone to being washed away.

It is estimated that 287 million hectares of degraded land in the tropics could be restored to continuous, intact forest. Using current and estimated commitments from the Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests, our model assumes that restoration could occur on 161-231 million hectares.
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By protecting currently degraded land and allowing natural regrowth to occur, committed land could sequester 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide per acre annually, for a total of 54.5-85.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050.

Tropical Forest Restoration

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Copy of Nursery 1

itajuba-site

Itajuba site

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Copy of Nursery 2

Restoring degraded land in Brazil

Minas Gerais, Brazil

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Restoring degraded land in Brazil

Context

The Project

Climate Solution

Tropical Forest Restoration

Photos from Brazil

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Project location: Minas Gerais, Brazil

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