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The Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor will consist of strips of ecologically restored land that connect isolated ‘islands’ of pristine and intact nature. In doing so, it also contributes to keeping the Araguaia River alive, as a lot depends on the river. Not only for fresh water, but also for transport, species in and alongside the river and as a source of cooling amongst many other important ecosystem services.

The vegetation that is found on river margins, often referred to as riparian vegetation, is vital for the preservation of different processes that occur naturally in and around rivers. Such processes include:  

1. The purification of water 

   Did you know that trees help to filter water? They do this by first absorbing the water through their leaves, and then releasing it as 1) water vapor and 2) through their roots. In absorbing rainwater, trees also absorb the nutrients that may have been picked up from excess fertilizer or animal waste. In doing so, they lower the amount of pollutants in our rivers.

2.  Providing shade and shelter to aquatic animals  

   By providing shade during periods with high temperatures, trees help to reduce the water temperature, and keep oxygen in the water which helps preserve aquatic organisms.  

3. Stabilising river banks and reducing bank erosion. 

   Erosion and sedimentation are natural processes, but can also generate problems for the river’s health. The presence of too much sediment in the water reduces water quality and can lower the river’s ability to flow, meaning that the quantity of water present can also decrease.  By stabilising river banks, trees reduce erosion and limit the amount of sediments that fall into the river.  

The Araguaia and Bananal lowland regions island regions were identified by ministry of environment as priority areas for conservation due to their high biodiversity and vast flooding regions. Also the Cerrado and Amazon are inseparable connected by soil, air and the rivers.

At Black Jaguar Foundation all our efforts are to realise the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor because we believe that it truly has the size to make a difference. Would you like to join our mission of hope and action? Donate a tree here.  

In preparation for this planting season, our team has been working hard to collect seeds with the Araguaia Seed Collection Collective, led by Laís D’Ísep dos Santos.  

So far, we have already bought seeds of around 11 different native tree species! The seeds we have purchased are mainly caju (cashew) seeds, since there is an abundance of these in the settlements that are near our restoration sites.  

Currently, we have 18 participants who are actively collecting seeds and over 100 other people recently received the first two modules of seed collective training.

We plan to complete this first cycle, consisting of four modules of training sessions, by the end of this year.  

Have a look at the first two modules for our seed collective training below!  

Our new partner Contact4You believes that making a difference always starts with yourself. That’s why they have partnered with the Black Jaguar Foundation!  

The organisation carefully considers sustainability in every decision they make. Internally, Contact4You has already started to:  

1.  Separate waste 
2.  Support local entrepreneurs 
3. Make use of electric cars 
4. Encourage their employees to work hybrid  

Reforestation affects all of our lives. Today, but also in the future. From the air that we breathe, to the water we drink, to the medicines we take, we are all dependent on the health of our ecosystems.

Contact4You joined the BJF community of sponsor partners in July 2022. A big thank you to them for choosing to invest in our mission of hope and action and ensure a healthy planet for our future generations.  

 At the Black Jaguar Foundation, we are currently working to realise the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor so that it can become the longest nature corridor on Earth with 2600 km in length and 40 km in width. 

 Together we CAN make the difference. Find out how you can become a BJF partner here and get to know one of our newest partners in their first 600 page! 

www.contact4you.nl multichannel customer service specialist 

With the rainy season approaching fast, we have intensified seedling production in our large new nursery! 

During the past weeks, we have germinated many different species, and are happy to announce that the seeds we sowed between June and July have already grown enough to be transported to the next phase of the seedling production process. These seedlings have just moved to our open sun site area, so that they can get used to field conditions and become resilient trees. 

In this first stage, the focus is on the production of species that are able to grow in periodically flooded regions. For this reason, we are focussing our production on species with these characteristics, including ingá, guarandi and jequitibá vermelho, among others.  

These species will become part of the first stage of our planting season, which will begin in October. Nevertheless, our second batch of seedlings will include a wider range of species that are native to the region.  

While the seeds develop, the seedlings that were sowed by our nursery team between June and July have already grown enough to move from our covered, inside nursery, to the open sun site areas. In this stage,  which is often referred to as acclimatisation, they are exposed to field conditions so that they can become resilient and grow.  

These seedlings will be planted in our restoration sites between October and November. We are very excited to see so many of our seedlings grow into healthy forests in the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor! 

At  the Black Jaguar Foundation, we strive to be as environmentally conscious as possible while carrying out our ecological restoration methods!

One of our most recent developments has been adjusting the way we grow and transport seedlings. Instead of using plastic bags, the BJF team now uses re-usable tubes.  

 One of the biggest benefits of this is the fact the these tubes can be reused with each poduction cycle – for up to 10 years. 

Another benefit is that these tubes take up a lot less space, which allows us to produce more seedlings in our nursery, using less soil. In other words, more seedlings for the coming planting season!  

All of these updates, together with our ever-increasing work rhythm, indicate that the coming months will be full of wonderful achievements. None of this would be possible without your support, so thank you! We hope you continue following our journey of ecological restoration.   

As the coming planting season approaches, we cannot forget about the trees we planted in the past planting seasons! 

To take care of our planted trees, we carry out maintenance throughout the year, regardless of the season. Nevertheless, we choose to concentrate our efforts during specific periods. We started this process a little bit earlier this year, as we are completing our first million trees.  

Maintenance consists of: removing invasive plants that eventually compete with our planted trees, carrying out complementary fertilization and guaranteeing that the fences and forest firebreaks (aceiros) surrounding the project areas stay functional. These activities are realized every four months, or until full canopy closure of the forest, and can take up to three years.  

 We also  need to ensure an environment where our planted trees are able to grow and contribute to heathy and functioning ecosystems. In many cases, this means that we need to build fences.  

Building fences is crucial to the protection of recently restored areas. Fences are needed in ecologically restored areas that are near cattle, to prevent these from eating or stepping on the young seedlings. This is a vital step in our cycle of ecological restoration, helping us to protect our young seedlings and ensure their growth. 

All of this care is vital in ensuring healthy forests! Would you like to become part of our grand mission of hope? Donate a tree here.  

Last month, Our field team participated in the second set of meetings organised by  the Federal university of South and Southwest Pará, regarding education and research projects. 

During the event, Carlos Eduardo Oliveira (Field Coordinator), Norivânia Diniz (Seedling production analyst) and Laís D’Isep (Seed production analyst) presented the Black Jaguar Foundation’s mission of ecological restoration to over 50 university students.  

The main theme of the event was: “Education and social responsibility: building values of citizenship and sustainability”.  

The UN’s sustainable development goals are global treaty signed by 193 member states in 2015. It is made up of 17 ambitious and interconnected objectives, spread out into 169 goals, focussed on overcoming the main challenges of international development.  

 In her lecture, Laís D’isep, our seed production analyst, talked about how collecting seeds can help Santana do Araguaia reach some of the sustainable development goals proposed by the UN.   

Finally, our seedling production analyst, Norivânia Diniz, dove into her routine working in the BJF nursery: from seedling production, to pros and cons of using different types of containers, to the main challenges faces in the process of seedling production! 

 Norivânia also explained the current infrastructure of our latest nursery, including new machines, what we are using them for, and how that will help with seed production. Overall, this provided a great opportunity to show university what the day-to-day of the nursery is like!  

 Here at the BJF, we believe that environmental education plays an important role in increasing community engagement in issues related to social responsibility. We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to shape the minds of tomorrow.  

To complete our first million trees in the coming planting season, we are expanding our team! 

The health and safety of our team is of utmost importance to us. Our new work safety engineer, Matheus Monteiro dos Santos, will guarantee that all safety procedures are followed while carrying out our ecological restoration activities. 

To help manage the purchases still needed to ensure the growth of our trees, we have hired Fabiane Monpean. Fabiane will also be providing support to the BJF finance team.

Further, though our validation team has already mapped the hectares to be restored in the coming planting season, reaching new landowners to join our mission of hope and action remains  a priority. For this reason, we have added Tainan Basso Balestrini to our landraising team. Tainan is a forest engineer who will work closely with our Rural Partnerships Coordinator, Marcelle Grumberg, and analyst Andreza Vidal.  

With more land, and more trees, we will also need more seeds! Our new Seed Production Analyst, Laís D’Isep dos Santos, is currently leading the development of the Araguaia Seed Collection Collective.

Finally, we have also hired Fernando Victal, a forest engineer, to coordinate our forest operations.   

With an ever-growing team, and together with our sponsor partners and partner farmers, we will plant the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor’s first million trees!  

Click through the descriptions of some of our newest team members to get to know them better!

This summer, the BJF participated in two leading Agriculture fairs in Brazil, showing that agriculture and ecological restoration can go together! We successfully participated with our own booth at Agrotins ’22 (Palmas, Tocantins) and Expoasa’22 (Santana do Araguaia, Pará).

We received an overwhelmingly positive response to our presence from our existing and potential farmer-partners and political representatives on federal, state and municipal level.

Watch the video-compilation above and experience what some of our existing and potential partner farmers and political representatives on federal, state and municipal level  have to say about our mission of hope & action in realising the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor in Central Brazil.

During these events, our team made many new connections and potential new partnerships with rural landowners and governmental bodies.

Find out more about our participation in some of Santana do Araguaia’s main Agricultural fairs here.