Ecological Restoration

The method

Before any intervention, the reserve went through a full environmental diagnosis: fauna and flora surveys, classification of vegetation succession stages, mapping of the most preserved areas and the degraded regions, and identification of the ecosystem services provided by the area.

This diagnosis, combined with a social diagnosis of the surrounding region, composes the RPPN Management Plan — the instrument that defines use and protection zones, permitted activities, monitoring tools and the paths to ecological, social and economic sustainability of the project.

The actions

• Recovery of degraded areas and reconnection of forest fragments.
• Floristic enrichment with native species in naturally regenerating areas.
• Protection of springs and riparian forest of the Açungui and Palmital rivers.
• Continuous monitoring of fauna and flora, with camera traps and technical visits.
• Mixed planting of native forest species with fruit and medicinal species.
• Setup of an in-house nursery to produce araucaria and other native seedlings, with internal distribution and for neighboring properties.

664 grafted Araucaria angustifolia seedlings have already been planted, with a target of 2,000. These planting nuclei are called Araucarilândias and act as productive-restoration models — a concrete demonstration that it is possible to generate income from a living forest.