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Q&A

EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW
ABOUT THE BJF

01
WHY THE NAME BLACK JAGUAR?

The black jaguar is not the focus but the icon of our foundation. It symbolizes the precarious future of the entire Amazon and Cerrado as well as the endangerment of our own species. Moreover, the black jaguar is a magical animal. Its strength, intelligence, elegance and perseverance to survive are characteristics that we aim to unite with the brand proposition of the BJF.

02
WHAT IS YOUR MISSION?

We are driven to restore the balance between nature and mankind. We offer a tangible solution for the drastic degradation of two of our most precious ecosystems: the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savanna in Brazil. With partners who match our values, we will reach our goal through well-defined tasks, step by step, together with the local landowners. We all have the power to change.

03
WHAT IS THE GOAL OF THE BJF?

The Black Jaguar Foundation pursues one clear objective: planting indigenous trees on a massive scale to help realize the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor. It will be the longest nature corridor on earth. And it can become the largest reforestation project in South America, to improve the lives of each of us and of all future generations on our planet.

04
WHAT IS THE PLANNING OF YOUR ACTIVITIES

All of our activities and efforts to ultimately accomplish our tasks for the Araguaia Corridor in Brazil can be divided in 3 phases:

Year 2013 – 2019
Preparation phase:
laying the groundwork for our foundation 
Year 2019 >
Fundraising phase: 
generating the required funds in cash 
Year 2019 >
Implementation phase:
carrying out the tasks in the field in Brazil

05
HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR SUCH AN ENORMOUS PROJECT?

To prepare ourselves and present our tasks for an enormous project like the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor to donors, potential sponsors and landowners, we must set high standards for our organization. High standards refer to a professional and unique approach to our (sponsor) partners in terms of systems, marketing and campaigns on the one hand. On the other hand, it refers to our approach to landowners with the best possible technical partners in ecological forest restoration. Until 2020, we have mainly invested in building a solid base for our foundation and in creating the first examples of success. In 2019 we have completed our first 2 nurseries and restored the first hectares of degraded land. We are currently completing our first 600 hectares of degraded land together with the local landowners. In the coming years we will scale up tot 6000 hectares in the heart of the corridor region.

06
WHAT IS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE BJF?

The driving force behind the BJF is the large number of dedicated professionals who donate their talent and time, year after year. Many of them fully sponsored and others at heavily discounted rates. Some donate a few hours a month, some work almost full-time! The thousands of man-hours of the BJF Team in recent years have been essential to transition from the Preparatory Phase into the Fundraising and Implementation phase. Since 2019 Our team of professionals has increased to more than 15 core team members in Brazil & the Netherlands. Additionally, the BJF Team consists of ‘Official Suppliers’: companies offering their services or products to the BJF at a charitable rate or even fully sponsored.

07
WHAT ARE YOUR FIRST EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS?

We have successfully completed the mapping of the whole corridor as well as the Impact Study to analyse the Cost-Benefits, for the corridor, Brazil and the planet! We have created win-win-win partnerships with the first group of (transition) landowners in the region, who truly value the ecosystems surrounding their land and who are now examples for all other landowners in the Corridor. We built a great team of BJF volunteers and we also built an international and mixed group of sponsor partners who share our values. Together with some prominent Ambassadors and a long list of Official Suppliers we have been expanding our reach worldwide. Thanks to the joint efforts of all these contributors to our cause the BJF can develop into a global and inspiring foundation!

08
WHY DO WE NEED YOU?

We fully depend on you! The Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna forest will be restored one tree at a time. We have learned that it takes more than sponsored goods and free services to plant a single tree, let alone millions of them. To be able to build a community of landowners and to start planting trees on a large scale, we do need your financial support in order to complete the full cycle of restoration, from beginning to the maintenance and the monitoring, to bring back our ecosystems.

09
WHAT IS YOUR TIMELINE FOR PLANTING THE FIRST 1 MILLION TREES?

To restore the first million trees we need two planting seasons. We have already completed the in depth-mapping of the regions and are making the partnerships with local landowners. The biodiversity planning has been taking place. And the coming months we are preparing for the coming planting season to complete the first 600 hectares, by planting 1 million native trees.

10
WHAT IS YOUR TOTAL BUDGET FOR THE COMING 20 YEARS?

Over 1.7 billion trees need to be planted to restore the 2,600 km long and up to 40 km wide corridor. Based on the BJF Impact Study, realising the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor will save US$ 17.1 billion in avoided cost for the planet. Completing the full BJF Cycle of restoration (Community Building – Science & Research – Planting – 3 Years of Maintenance) completes 17 steps and takes about €7 per tree.

11
WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET FOR THE COMING YEARS?

In the coming 5 years we want to complete the restoration of 6000 hectares. With this modest and clear budget in cash (not in free goods or services), we are now completing a large scale nursery, operating a field team and restoring the first 100 hectares. Hereafter, it will be easier to grow the community of change and raise additional funds, because we can show concrete results at scale.

12
WHAT DONATION OPTIONS DO YOU OFFER?

We have two campaigns; the donate a tree campaign and the First600 campaign.

You can choose to donate any number of trees through the Donate a Tree campaign. For just € 7, you can already donate 1 tree which enables us to conduct each of the 17 steps in the BJF Cycle of Restoration. This also includes the maintaining of your trees for a period 3 years after planting. When you donate trees, you will receive a payment confirmation and a Certificate of Donation, displaying the map location where your trees will be planted, with love and care by the BJF team.

You can also choose to join The First 600 campaign. In this engaging campaign, sponsor packages for individuals start with Supporting Friend (€ 1,000), and go up to Diamond Friend (€25,000). Sponsor packages for companies start with Corporate Friend (€ 5,000). Each package is valid for 2 years. Anyone can contribute: you can donate on your own, as a group or through your company. Click on JOIN THE FIRST 600 to select your window and to choose your donation package. We also invite Foundation Angels! For information about these exciting packages and exclusive corporate partnerships, we invite you to contact us directly at partners@black-jaguar.org to set up a meeting.

13
WHAT HAPPENS WITH MY DONATION?

We aim to be a lean organization with low overhead (15%) and maximum reach (85%) of your donation to our conservation work in Brazil. Our fund are allocated towards only one project: the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor. Because we are fortunate to have a large number of volunteers who donate their talent, we can set our goal to have an overhead of maximum 15% of all raised funds. Since 2015 we have our first full time paid team member, at BJF Brazil. Today we are a team of 12 professionals working fulltime, in both Brazil and the Netherlands. All other work is carried out by volunteers who work pro bono or for charitable rates. BJF Board members and Ambassadors do not receive any financial remuneration.

14
WHAT IS YOUR TONE OF VOICE?

We express optimism, positivism and a can-do attitude during a time when climate change, food (in)security and the increasing demand for our planet’s resources dominate our media. Instead of complaining and denouncing, we firmly believe we CAN and WILL make a positive and constructive contribution. The building of our green community of transition landowners, entrepreneurs, scientists and artists, will encourage many others to step up to make a difference.

15
WHAT ARE YOUR KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS?

We have prepared a report on our accomplishments and expenses during our preparatory phase from 2016 onwards. We have also published a Milestone and Annual Report over the past years.

Click here to open the 2016 document in PDF format.
Click here to open the 2017 document in PDF format.
Click here to open the 2018 document in PDF format.
Click here to open the 2019 document online.
Click here to open the 2020 Milestone Report online.
Click here open the 2020 Annual Report online.
Click here open the 2021 Milestone Report online.
Click here open the 2021 Annual Report online.
Click here open the 2022 Milestone Report online.
Click here open the 2022 Annual Report online.

16
WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?

The complexity and magnitude of our mission can’t be fully explained on the pages of this Q&A. If you have further specific questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Send us an email at info@black-jaguar.org and we will happily provide you with more information. Thank you for your interest!

How you can help realize the Araguaia Corridor