Ana Paula Mendes

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! 

The Farm of the Future is an enterprise of Guilherme Tiezzi, one of our partner landowners. He proposes a complete shift in the way agrobusiness relates to natural resources, wanting to create a true social impact in the region. In July, Tiezzi promoted a one-week Holistic Management Course at his property which our forest engineers were able to attend! 

Here, they had the opportunity to learn more about sustainable cattle raising and property management. Our BJF Brazil team also had the opportunity to present their work and show attendees the preparation of our Restoration Demonstration Unit, which will be taking place in the Farm of the Future. This was an amazing learning experience for us, and a great opportunity to inform more people about the crucial work the BJF is doing!