It’s a very simple concept. Instead of (or as well as) buying eggs made of chocolate this Easter, you give the gift a new native tree. With this native tree you’ll be restoring our most vital ecosystems, bringing back biodiversity and helping to preserve our planet for future generations.
When you donate a tree, you choose to make a difference for the future of our planet and for the communities living along the Araguaia river. But when you’re so far away from the tree planting action, it can be hard to visualise this impact.
We want to bring you to the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor and show you the impact your donations are having. It’s time for you to meet the people planting your trees and see the planting in action!
By now you’ve probably been introduced to some of our team but we’re growing and this planting season our team in the field grew to 36 local tree planters! Thanks to our dedicated local team, our amazing partner landowners and you, our community, 80,000 trees are being planted this season. These 80,000 trees are part of our first million trees which are being planted with the incredible support of Movida and One Tree Planted.
Now let’s meet the team and take a look at the amazing planting progress.
Each year World Wildlife day focuses on one theme which is of the utmost importance for the preservation of our planet’s wildlife. This year, the day is being celebrated around the theme of “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet“.
The aim is to highlight the central role that forests and ecosystem services play in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally. In honour of this day, we’re launching billboards across the Netherlands, asking you to support the preservation of our forests and Donate a Tree!
Nature is crucial for each and every person living on earth. However, for local communities and indigenous peoples, their lives and livelihoods and so intertwined with the natural processes that are increasingly threatened as deforestation and biodiversity loss increase.
It is estimated that between 200 and 350 million people live within or adjacent to forested areas, with roughly 28% of the world’s surface currently being managed by indigenous peoples. (https://www.wildlifeday.org/). Not only do these people rely intimately on the preservation of nature, but that we in turn rely on them to conserve the wildlife that is so essential for human survival.
This world wildlife day is drawing attention to these communities and the initiatives that are working together with them to create sustainable models of forest conservation, that take into account the livelihoods and well-being of these guardians of the forests.
At the Black Jaguar Foundation, we’re working together with local communities to learn about their needs and requirements for ecological restoration. Taking into account economic return and social impact to create sustainable models of restoration. This means we make a unique plan for each area of land, together with the farmers, to assess how models for agroforestry or sustainable timber systems may work together with the restoration of biodiversity.
The aim is to restore forests that last! By working with local communities these forests become an asset to the community. Not only because of the impact of restored ecosystem services but because of the impact for livelihoods and for the community as a whole. (Find out more from the 2019-2020 Impact study)
You can take action today and help protect our forests and all those who rely on them. Donate a tree!
Sapa Pana Travel offers bespoke trips to incredible destinations around Latin America. Providing clients with unique experiences to some of our planet’s most beautiful locations. But they also want these opportunities to be possible for future generations.
Because of this, Sapa Pana Travel is looking to grow and develop in a way that is responsible and respectful to the world in which we live. As part of this, at the start of February, Sapa Pana Travel committed to supporting the Black Jaguar Foundation. Sapa Pana will now be compensating for the ecological impact of their trips but helping us to plant millions of native trees in the heart of Brazil. However, in addition to this, they are dedicated to helping to promote environmentalism and sustainable travel.
On Monday the 8th March, 19.30 (CET), Sapa Pana’s founder Johan van Rijswijck, with be interviewing BJF Founder Ben Valks. They’ll be discussing Ben’s adventures from Alaska, through the Amazon, to Antarctica, and finding out how the Black Jaguar Foundation came to be. The discussion will also offer listeners the chance to get involved and ask questions so make sure not to miss it. Register here to listen here.
We’re excited to grow, together with Sapa Pana Travel, and help each other to work towards a more sustainable future. Find out more about Sapa Pana travel and our partnership!
Planting season is almost over but we still have more updates coming your way. These 60,000 trees have been planted at our partner farms in the Santana do Araguaia region and are all part of our first million trees with Movida and One Tree Planted!
To celebrate our monumental partnership with One Tree Planted, Project manager Alaine Ball from OTP visited the project at the start of February to see the restoration sites, and get to know the landowners and the city of Santana do Araguaia. We hope this is just the start of a beautiful partnership working to restore our most vital ecosystems!
During the next planting season, we’ll be completing our first million trees and starting to plant our second million!
This season, however, has not been without its challenges! It’s been dryer than usual which caused a temporary pause in our planting in December. Luckily our field team is always finding new technologies and ways to adapt, and with the use of a water-retaining polymer, we were able to continue planting. This polymer is added to the soil before planting and means that water stays available in the soil for longer. Thanks to this polymer our planting season has continued and we’ll reach this season’s target of 80,000 trees!
These droughts are a clear sign of our changing climate and another reason why reforestation work is more crucial than ever!
We’re happy to see more awareness around the challenges and hopes for restoration work. With increasingly uncertain weather conditions, we need your support more than ever to have the capacity to continue to adapt and grow!
Read the full article on how droughts are affecting restoration work in Nature Today >>>
Finish Profiles Group is the number 1 supplier of steel roof and wall plates, and it is going carbon neutral by 2030!
Together with the Hedgehog company, we calculated the company’s carbon emissions up to 2030. In line with the Hedgehog company’s calculations, we will plant 11, 625 trees on behalf of Finish Profile’s Group. Over the course of 26 years, as these trees reach maturity, they will remove 1.7 million kilos of carbon from our atmosphere.
In addition to actively compensating for their carbon emissions, the Finish Profile’s Group is investing in low carbon technologies and increasingly building their business with our planet in mind.
On top of being committed to providing their customers with a quality service, the Finish Profile Group is now committed to helping us work towards a more sustainable future for all. Founder and CEO, Chris van der Vossen, has one question for you, will you join them?
To celebrate the start of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, we have something very special for you! We’ve teamed up with local Amsterdam artist Nina Biddle to create a limited edition Black Jaguar Foundation T-shirt!
Not only can you now wear this beautiful, unique design, but with every T-shirt sold we’ll be able to plant 2 trees. T-shirts for you, trees for all!
Adorning the back of this T-shirt you’ll find a set of tree rings. But not just any tree rings, these tree rings have tiny dancing people swirling and twirling within the lines. Tree rings tell us so much about each tree but also about our climate and our planet’s cycles of nature. This T-shirt is an ode to our intertwined relationship with nature and the beauty that can happen when we work with nature, instead of against it.
We can’t wait to see you all wearing your support for our planet!
Get your limited edition Tee today >>>
The cost to plant a tree varies depending on multiple factors, primarily the location and type of techniques used. After all, the cost of a tree is much more than simply the price of a seed or seedling!
All of our work is in Brazil and takes place along the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor, and we use a mixture of 5 restoration techniques, which are dependent on the area. We calculate that to complete every stage in the planting process, it will cost us €7 per tree. But what does this actually involve?
Let us tell you!
It all starts with a community, and at the Black Jaguar Foundation we invest a lot in our community. We work in a unique way, we don’t buy land, but instead partner with local farmers who have an environmental deficit.
What is an environmental deficit I hear you ask? Under Brazilian environmental law, landowners must leave a percentage of their land to allow nature to return. Their environmental deficit is the shortfall of land that must yet be designated for nature, in order for farmers to meet this legal requirement.
So, in our project, farmers are our partners. In this partnership the farmer allows us to reforest their land, in return, they are able to comply with the legal regulations. Both they and the community also benefit from the restored ecosystem services. Such as improved soil quality, restored water supply, natural pest control, and so much more! Crucially, they are also playing an active role in changing the fate of our planet! They are our heroes!
Environmental education and engagement workshops are also held by our team in the field, however these have had to be suspended to comply with Covid regulations. These teach about the benefits associated with restoring and preserving forests, building on the local knowledge to nurture the growing environmental consciousness in the region.
Another stage that must happen before we plant is some crucial investigation. We must know what the original ecosystem looked like, as only then can we restore it. This is a crucial part of the process. The wrong trees will fail to bring the biodiversity of the region back. And that’s what it’s all about! At the Black Jaguar Foundation our first task was to extensively map the whole Araguaia corridor area, looking into the prior land use, the soil composition, the existing flora and fauna and much more. Carefully then devising a plan to re-create the ecosystem and restore it to its former glory.
Our research is ongoing and we are constantly learning and adapting our techniques and our approach.
Now it’s almost time to plant! First is the small matter of purchasing the seeds, building the nurseries and growing the seeds into healthy strong seedlings! Our team will then get to work preparing the land, this means constructing fences to prevent cattle grazing on the new trees, removing invasive grasses and controlling ant populations. A little fertilizer and then we’re ready to plant! In some sites we plant seedlings and some we sow seeds. In some sites all we need to do is protect the area or boost the diversity of species and nature will do the rest.
Your trees are now in the ground, then what? If absolutely everything goes according to plan we’ll continue to monitor the restored forest and check its progress using a range of indicators, but no further interference will be needed. Sometimes however we may need to intervene and help the new forest along to make sure biodiversity is restored. This is why we conduct regular checks for 3 years. With subsequent checks at the 5, 10 and 20-year marks.
We would be nowhere without our amazing supporters and donors and so we’re honoured to announce our newest and first brazilian ambassador, who will represent our community and help to share our work with the world!
Tarcila Ursini is bringing her wealth of knowledge and experience to our world-renowned group of Ambassadors and has in the past years been instrumental in progressing our work in Brazil!
Tarcila plays a prominent role in the sustainable development of the Brazilan business sector and in addition to working as an independent advisor to large companies, impact startups and civil society organizations, also lectures on the theme of governance, sustainability and the new economy. Since being introduced to the BJF in 2019 she has been an un-official ambassador and so we’re excited to formally have her as part of the team.
Since 2017 the Black Jaguar Foundation has been working with the ecological restoration of degraded Legal Reserves (RLs) and Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) in the region of Santana do Araguaia (PA) and Caseara (TO). Our goal is to restore approximately 1 million ha along the 2600km length of the Araguaia River Corridor.
In October 2020, the advance of the fires in the region surprised us and was the first time we saw our restoration areas threatened by the flames.
Thanks to a great joint effort of our partners Movida Aluguel de Carros, Instituto Capitalismo Consciente and 101 donors like you, we were able to raise R$20,810.33 in record time with the SOS-Araguaia campaign.
Together we helped the local brigade of Parque do Cantão (TO) with food, equipment and also supported vulnerable families to help rebuild what the fires destroyed.
Honouring the commitment of transparency with your financial support of the SOS-Araguaia campaign, we share the following figures showing how the collected funds were put to use, and photographic records of the courageous action taken by the fire brigade of Parque do Cantão (TO).
Our goal for 2021 is to support the development and training of the municipal fire brigades of Santana do Araguaia (PA) and Caseara (TO), and to put in preventive measures so that the region where we operate does not suffer again from fires like those that spread in 2020.
On behalf of the hundreds of people benefited by the SOS-Araguaia campaign, we thank you for your support and belief in our work!
We will work to make 2021 a year where we celebrate much life, and zero fires in the region!
Warmest wishes,
Black Jaguar Foundation Team
