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Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

The rains have finally arrived in the Araguaia region, and we are at the peak of the 2024/2025 planting season! With various activities underway, Dimitrio Schievenin, our project coordinator, and I visited the restoration areas to bring you the latest updates firsthand. 

In early October, we completed soil preparation to welcome seedlings and seeds of native trees! In the video below, our field team is seen wrapping up one of the last areas in preparation: 

With the areas ready, planting began in earnest: 

Just 15 days later, the first seeds had already sprouted into healthy young seedlings, ready to grow and transform the landscape of the region! 

Seedling planting is also in full swing, with plants from our nursery being transported to restoration areas: 

Restoring new areas is just part of the process. We also focus on maintaining previously restored hectares from earlier rainy seasons, ensuring the planted species thrive and grow. 

To our delight, we encountered beautiful young forests—providing food and shelter for the region’s wildlife! Look at some photos:

These incredible transformations are only possible because of your support! Keep contributing to the Biodiversity Corridor, and let’s continue building a better tomorrow for future generations—together! 

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

Preserving our ecosystems is a challenge that requires collective action. With this in mind, our partner, Brasil que Produz (“Brazil that produces” in English), collaborated with the Black Jaguar Foundation to showcase the vital work being done for the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor through a stunning collection of t-shirt designs.

These designs celebrate the beauty of the Amazon Rainforest and the Cerrado savanna, highlight native species, and emphasize the significance of the Araguaia River. Notably, each purchase contributes to our mission, as every T-shirt sold helps plant a tree in the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor!

We invite other partners and supporters to take inspiration from this initiative. By coming together in innovative ways, we can all play a role in promoting ecological restoration and biodiversity. Let’s explore how we can create impactful projects that support our shared vision for a healthier planet.

Together, we can make a difference! Check out all the beautiful T-shirts!

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

In 2024, Marco van der Ree joined the Black Jaguar Foundation as a consultant for strategic partnerships. He has over 30 years of experience as a strategic and innovative executive leader and is also a social entrepreneur in sustainable development, with deep knowledge of Brazil.

He has worked for many years in various roles at the UN and has experience in fundraising, building partnerships, engaging stakeholders, climate action, and biodiversity.

He has driven multiple impactful initiatives worldwide and co-organized the 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference, which took place in Bonn, Germany, in 2011, with the theme “Sustainable Societies, Responsible Citizens.”

Additionally, he has held executive positions at Climate-KIC, GRI, Conexsus, and has worked with many partners and initiatives, including the 10-year evaluation of the Amazon Fund,  through his own company, Brokering Solidarity.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Amsterdam, focusing on environmental policy/international biodiversity (1995). At the Black Jaguar Foundation, Marco will elevate our strategic partnerships in Brazil, Europe and with global partners to the next level.

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

In recent weeks, the Black Jaguar Foundation took part in a series of important meetings that could open new opportunities and partnerships for the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor.

We connected with various institutions and agencies, such as BID and ICMBio, where we presented our project and discussed potential partnerships in conservation units. This was a valuable opportunity to showcase our initiatives and seek the necessary accreditation to participate in calls for proposals aimed at recovering degraded areas.

The following day, we met with the Ministry of the Environment, where Secretary of Biodiversity Rita Mesquita presented a call for proposals for recovering areas in the Cerrado. The synergies between our projects were evident, reinforcing the relevance of our work.

On Wednesday, we met with the Dutch ambassador, who expressed interest in our project, and later gathered with the president of IBAMA, where we showcased our project and identified avenues for collaboration. These interactions are crucial for strengthening our network and ensuring the support necessary for executing our activities.

The following week, we were invited to participate in the Joint Mission for Restoration Funding. The event aimed to establish a model for financing restoration in the Araguaia region, with CIF providing a loan with BNDES as the intermediary.

During the meeting, we had the opportunity to connect with the stakeholders and beneficiaries of the initiative, as well as engage with members of the Tocantins government, the Ministry of the Environment, BID, the World Bank, and the Brazilian Forest Service, all of whom showed interest in learning more about our project on-site.

Additionally, the Black Jaguar Foundation’s presence at the meeting provided a more realistic perspective on the ecological restoration conducted alongside rural property owners. No wonder, on the second day of the meeting, we were invited to present our project and share insights into the challenges and opportunities of this activity in the Araguaia region.

We are optimistic about the prospects these meetings and events are bringing, as we know that with the right support and collaboration from different sectors, we can achieve our restoration and conservation goals.

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

September was a special month for the Black Jaguar Foundation, filled with environmental education activities in celebration of Amazon Day and Cerrado Day. At a time when climate emergencies are becoming increasingly urgent, it is essential to raise awareness among future generations about the importance of preserving and restoring these biomes.

Our engagement coordinator, Marcelle Grumberg, visited four schools in Santana do Araguaia, highlighting the crucial role the Amazon Rainforest and Cerrado play in combating climate change—not just in Brazil, but globally.

The Black Jaguar Foundation now has a comic book to teach children about the importance of preserving and restoring the Amazon and the Cerrado!

In recent months, our Communication and Engagement teams have collaborated to create an illustrated material about the work the Black Jaguar Foundation is doing in the Araguaia region. The aim is to help future generations understand the significance of our efforts and become active agents of change in preserving our biomes.

In the story, two children discuss the importance of trees for river preservation. We take this opportunity to introduce simple concepts about climate change, ecological restoration, and more. At the end, we include fun exercises to reinforce what they learned.

These initiatives reaffirm the Black Jaguar Foundation’s commitment to strengthening awareness about the need to protect our forests. We want future generations to grow up with a sense of responsibility for caring for the environment, ensuring a more sustainable future for all!

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

As another rainy season approaches, we are thrilled to share all the preparations for the 2024/2025 planting season in the Araguaia region!

This year, our goal was to start activities as early as possible, enhancing our logistical operations to ensure everything is ready for the rains! Back in August, Black Jaguar Foundation’s project coordinator, Dimitrio Schievenin, organized a meeting with the entire field team to integrate all members into the project and educate them on the importance of ecological restoration and the native species we cultivate in our nursery.

This care for our team reflects our commitment to carrying out safe and high-quality ecological restoration.

September brought significant challenges, with wildfires impacting several regions of Brazil, including the Araguaia area. Despite the need to relocate some of our team to assist farmers in fire control, we remained focused on keeping our planting schedule. We worked closely together to support our partner farmers and ensured we stayed on track.

In this rainy season, we will begin in areas where we will use seedling planting and direct seeding techniques.

From July to September, we dedicated ourselves to building fences to protect newly planted areas, securing supplies, producing seedlings, and preparing the soil for the future trees realizing the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor. Although the rains are expected to be delayed this season, we remain optimistic and confident that this will be another successful planting season!

We want to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and collaborators who make our mission to realise the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor a reality!

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

We are fully prepared to make the upcoming planting season a success. However, unfortunately, Brazil is being hit by wildfires due to the dry season, including in the Araguaia region where our partner farms are located.

At the Black Jaguar Foundation, we are committed to protecting both the Amazon and the Cerrado savanna. This involves not only restoring degraded areas into healthy forests but also safeguarding native forests from degradation and wildfires caused by extensive droughts.

Currently, we are assisting our partner farmers in combating the wildfires on their properties. Our support includes deploying our field team to the farms, establishing natural fire barriers, and making our water truck available if needed.

We are doing all we can to keep our fight going against the fire, but we have limited resources. At the moment, we already have one water truck in full operation, but we urgently need to raise funds to acquire additional equipment and rent another water truck during this critical period.

This is how a brand new water truck looks like for the price of € 50,000.

Our next goal is to purchase our own water truck, which costs €50,000. This truck will be invaluable during the dry season for wildfire containment and can also be used to irrigate seedlings in our nursery during water shortages outside the dry season.

We hope you can make the magic happen together with us and contribute to achieve this urgent goal.

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

It’s time to celebrate the achievements and impact the Black Jaguar Foundation made in 2023! We are proud to share with you our 2023 Annual Report, inviting you to experience our key milestones and initiatives, by reading and watching the inspiring videos.

Please click on “full screen” on the right bottom to see the report in an optimised way.

We’re excited to let you know that it was a remarkable year, marked by ecological restoration and initiatives that promoted sustainable development and the preservation of standing forests. Ready to dive into our 2023 Annual Report?

It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? And the upcoming 2024/2025 planting season, already on the horizon, will be even more exciting! We will complete the planting of our first million native trees and begin planning the second million. 

And as you already know, none of this would be possible without your support! We continue to rely on your support to restore more areas and see them grow into healthy ecosystems along the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor!  

Share our Annual Report 2023 so we can expand the BJF Community further. Together, we’re working to combat the effects of the climate crisis in Brazil and around the world! 

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.

Recently, our Communications Coordinator, Ana Paula Mendes, had the privilege of spending a week exploring the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor – and all the initiatives involved in this incredibly rewarding and challenging project. There’s truly no other word to describe her experience than: unforgettable. Now, the goal is to bring you, even if just for a few minutes, along with her to the field! Shall we go together? 

We hope that after this brief journey, you feel even closer and prouder of what we are building together. Your support is crucial for the realization of the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor!

Would you like to join us in realizing one of the longest biodiversity corridors on Earth? Become one of the First 600 to join our mission of hope and action HERE.