The Arboredo Project, a new effort launched by Forest Trends and the Arbor Day Foundation, will boost Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) livelihoods and plant one million extra trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest.
Brazil’s authorities have pledged to restore 12 million ha of land by 2030. Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest, a major biodiversity hotspot that houses 70% of the country’s population, has enormous potential to recover up to 17 million acres.
The Arbor Day Foundation and Forest Trends’ Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative will plant one million trees in the Atlantic Rainforest’s Ribeira and Paraba Valleys in So Paulo State. They will collaborate directly with IPLCs, family farms, local cooperatives, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as CooperCentral VR, Coobio, and Akarui. The initiative will concentrate on natural species of the Atlantic Rainforest in order to promote food security, forest carbon storage, and biodiversity in IPLC and family farmer territories. Jussara (Euterpe edulis), a form of aça, and local fruits such as Cambucá (Plinia edulis) and Grumixama (Eugenia brasiliensis) are among the native species designated for early planting.
The Arboredo Project (Projeto Arboredo in Portuguese) expands on existing reforestation collaborations in the Brazilian Amazon involving Forest Trends, the Arbor Day Foundation, the Zoró, Paiter Suru, and 14 other indigenous peoples to develop agroforestry systems. The Arbor Day Foundation recently recognized the Atlantic Rainforest as a priority site for reforestation after assessing global forests in need of replanting. The Forest Priority Index developed by the Foundation determines where trees can have the greatest influence on climate change, wildlife, and indigenous cultures.
Arbor Day Foundation
“Our partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation over the past three years has proven that sustainable, forest-based value chains in collaboration with indigenous and local communities are a successful strategy to improve indigenous livelihoods and governance, conserve biodiversity, and mitigate climate change,” said Beto Borges, Director of Forest Trends’ Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative. “In expanding this partnership, we can scale these benefits across additional biomes and communities in Brazil.”
“We believe that planting trees is an investment in the health of the people and wildlife around them, and we’re grateful for Forest Trends’ commitment to that vision,” said Dan Lambe, president and CEO of the Arbor Day Foundation. “This project in the Atlantic Rainforest will contribute to the expansion of economic opportunities in local communities.”
