Ana Paula Mendes

The Black Jaguar Foundation had the honour of being invited to participate in the event as a partner organisation. Marina Tavares (BJF) and Dimitrio Schievenin (BJF) lead the panel “Restoration and Recovering of Degraded Areas: Commitments and Opportunities for Brazil”, together with Severino Ribeiro (CEPAN and Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact) and Jeferson Straatmann (ISA – Socio-Environmental Institute). Our project coordinator, Dimitrio Schievenin, was also invited to the WWF panel, “Barriers and Opportunities for NDC Implementation in the Farming Sector – A Focus on Restoring Degraded Areas in the Brazilian Cerrado.”. Here we shared the learnings so far from our pilot project in Santana do Araguaia (PA) and Caseara (TO), an area viewed to be the transition point between the Cerrado and Amazon biomes.

The outcome of this conference was the Recife Declaration. The Black Jaguar Foundation are one of numerous institutions, NGOs, companies and public agencies that have signed this agreement, committing to stand against climate change and work collectively towards a greener, more sustainable future. With our mission to restore more than 1 million hectares of the Amazon and Brazilian Cerrado along the Araguaia River, we are very proud to contribute directly to the Brazilian restoration target of 12 million hectares by 2030, the figure agreed upon in the Paris Agreement.

You too can show your support for climate action in Brazil and sign the Recife Declaration https://www.climabrasil.org.br/assinatura

During the current rainy season, the BJF field team is implementing a Restoration Demonstration Unit (RDU), located in the Farm of the Future, in the heart of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor! Our team first prepared the area for restoration by removing all invasive grasses and plants, placing a fence and starting to plant the first seedlings. This RDU will be fully restored using three different techniques: seedling planting, with legume plants between the seedlings; dense seedling planting; and direct seeding, mixing tree species and legume plants.

The aim is for this 1,3 hectare restoration site to become a reference for other landowners that wish to partner with the BJF to restore their land, allowing them to see the process in action. The RDU will also be used as a site for local environmental education! When the restoration process is complete, pathways and sign boards will be created within the RDU, so people can walk around, explore and find out more information about ecological restoration. Local schools will also visit the site so children can come and learn more about the environment and why we need to restore and maintain these important areas. 

The BJF Team along with researchers from the Green Capital Study, visiting the Restoration Demonstration Unit (RDU), November 2019.

This year has seen many exciting developments which have propelled us into the next stages of our project, and as we grow, so must our structures. The BJF is therefore proud to have been awarded a Corporate Governance project by Vieira Rezende, a renowned Brazilian law firm. 

Vieira Rezende’s talented attorneys are currently working pro-bono in order to help us create compliance policies and set up a Brazilian advisory board. This board will be formed from renowned professionals from finance, forest restoration, third sector, impact business, environmental legislation and Agribusiness to help guide us in our future endeavours. The Brazilian Corporate Governance project will help bring even more transparency and trust to our partners and donors, as well as being a fundamental step towards broadening our Brazilian community! This is a crucial next step in the development of the BJF, helping to prepare us for the next, exciting phases of our immense task. 

Read Vieira Rezende’s partner brochure to find out more about how they support the BJF and what this means for their organisation.

Once again the support we receive from our loyal army of partners, donors and friends is inspiring! This month we want to put the spotlight on Floris and Natascha Wouterson who have been with us since the start of our journey. On top of being committed sponsors themselves, they have also been planting fundraising seeds for us for many years now, spreading the story and the mission of the Black Jaguar Foundation far and wide. Thanks to these efforts the BJF now has an amazing community of German sponsors, to whom we also would like to thank for coming on this exciting journey with us! 

As the owners of Sleepwise, Floris and Natascha have their own mission, to help people sleep better. Since the success of their two stores, Floris has delved further into the world of sleep, becoming the first sleep performance coach in Europe. In this role he provides, coaching and techniques on how to maximise your sleep and has now published the book, ‘Super Sleeper’, containing everything you need to know to rest well. Helping the world one nights sleep at a time. 

After learning of our project in 2012, there was no hesitation, they would support us. The Wouterson family are true believers in what we are trying to achieve, in a recent update meeting Floris said ‘we are a team, I am just one small part’, a mentality we share! With each team member, sponsor, partner playing their respective role, we are capable of truly changing our planets prognosis. 

Thank you Floris and Natascha for all your energy, your inspiring drive and your dedication!

Watch their video testimonial to discover why they support the BJF!

Visit Floris and Natascha’s profile page to find out more about our amazing supporters! 

Our project has developed only by building strong relationship with local communities, which has recently been extended through the engagement with local schools and universities.

This month, one of our forest engineers, Carlos Eduardo, visited a school in the Araguaia corridor region to teach about the intrinsic value of nature and the reasons why we must all protect our planet’s biodiversity!

This is part of a new initiative with the Secretary of Environment, Fisheries and Tourism of Marianópolis do Tocantins to promote social and environmental sustainability in the region. The BJF is extremely happy to be part of this vital work, sharing our knowledge about restoration with the next generation and in turn gaining more of an understanding about the needs of these communities.

The BJF also received students from the University of Goiás to learn about the restoration process and experience the life of a forest engineer, first hand from our BJF Field Coordinator.

During the field, they followed various activities under the supervision of Field Coordinator Carlos Eduardo Batista de Oliveira: collecting and processing forest seeds, the production of forest seedlings in the nursery, monitoring the areas planted in 2018 and looking at the next steps and the new areas where restoration will be implemented. Here’s what they said about their experience:

‘I returned even more with the certainty that Forest Engineering is the wonderful profession I want to pursue, and the certainty that the BJF Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor project is one of the most beautiful actions in terms of the environment and ecological restoration’ – Maria Paula Ataídes.

‘It was a week of hard learning and hard work, but nothing compares to the feeling of witnessing how restoration happens.’ – Ana Carolina Alves Serafim

Meet Elyakin and Phablo, our newest team members! As local environmental engineers, Elaykin and Phablo will play a crucial role in the next stages of our project, helping to communicate our mission and create new partnerships with landowners along the Araguaia corridor.

Elyakin and Phablo are both local to the region and have extensive histories in farming! This intimate knowledge of the area, the people and the industry makes Elyakin and Phablo perfectly placed to articulate to landowners the merits of committing to our biodiversity project and allowing us to restore their lands to the rich, diverse areas they once were! 

We see our partnerships with landowners as a win-win! Not only is it in keeping with Brazilian law, but our work will leave landowners with richer soil quality and an increased water supply, as well as increasing the sustainability of their farms and gaining them CO2 credits in the process. Not to mention the pride and recognition associated with helping to preserve our planet! 

This project necessitates a huge community of partners and so we are extremely excited to have Elyakin and Phablo on board, helping us to increase our reach and achieve the next concrete goal – 1 million trees! 

As the owner of his own environmental consultancy company, Licenciar, Elyakin has a wealth of knowledge and experience surrounding the restoration of this specific environment. Furthermore, being acutely aware of the needs of communities within the Araguaia corridor will ensure that as we move forward, we continue to do so in partnership with these local stakeholders.

The planting of seedlings is crucial, especially when natural regeneration is not able to express itself. The process required for this is complex, from the careful preparation of the soil, to the control of competing plants, to the planting of species with different functional attributes.

When restoring forests, fast-growing trees are planted first. These have the task of re-building the structure and changing the microclimate and soil conditions, making way for the diversity species.

Fast-growing trees must have certain attributes, such as a dense crown, strong roots and an association with beneficial micro-organisms that will help maintain the plants and richness of the soil. Diversity species are longer living and will be part of the future structure when the forest matures. In Savannas, there is no division between fast-growing and diversity. Instead, trees, bushes and grasses are planted all at once to rebuild structure and biodiversity.

This technique requires constant maintenance and monitoring, but it will successfully restore the biodiversity of a given site. 

Last month, the BJF team travelled to Germany to speak at the Brazil-Germany symposium on Sustainable Development. The symposium focused on understanding the complex relationship between human and natural components and their integration into systems for sustainable development in Brazil and Germany.

Invited by our Global Advisory Board Member for the Green Capital Study, Dr. Jörn Germer, we were honoured to present our work, discussing our large scale ecosystem restoration and the realisation of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor in the heart of Brazil. 

The symposium hosted a unique gathering of keynote speakers and scientists from science, politics, economy and society, all discussing current environmental issues. This diverse range of participants allowed for an engaging and innovative exchange of ideas and experiences. 

Beyond the inspiring discussions the event also provided new networking opportunities and the chance to solidify bonds with existing supporters!