Country: Brazil
Established: 2007
State: Mato Grosso do Sul
Geo Location: 20°31'10.3"S 54°23'11.9"W
Location: Amazon Basin
More than 90% of the trees constituting the primary forest of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul have been cleared out and transformed into cattle raising and agriculture and used for the planted commercial forests with exotic species such as eucalyptus.
This project rescues abandoned eucalyptus tree farms and cash crop plantations, reconverting those sites back into forests by planting native species. Regenerating the forest takes a lot of time, effort, and knowledge to pinpoint the original species that used to grow in each site, so it is not a random planting project.
The end product is a renewed forest far away from the monoculture practice that is currently being used all over the place in Brazil. That way, the ecosystem is slowly being restored with a similar format that it used to have some decades ago.
Campo Grande Project
Campo Grande Project is all about getting as many trees as possible to the ground faster than trees are chopped out, which means that we are permanently on the field working with farmers and stakeholders.
Usually, farmers are blamed for chopping down the forest to expand agricultural fields, so part of our job is to convince farmers that trees are their best allies instead of an enemy that occupies productive land and eats up their yields; that way, we get the farmers to join us.With them, we have developed and pioneered a unique planting system in which we obtain a hybrid between windshields and traditional tree plantations. This model allows farmers to add value to their land while they increase their yields and, on top of that, enhance water conditions, fertility and reduce erosion.
This system worked beautifully and has proven to be a success story that has been voluntarily and widely adopted by many farmers long before it became a regulation. In addition to that, we provide continuous technical support with a team of experienced field technicians who are capable of helping out in tree plantation, maintenance, and agricultural matters as well.
The end product is a higher land value, increased income for farmer families, reduction of forest fires, and positive environmental and social impact; the key to success has been to balance out a profitable synergy between farmers, agriculture, trees, and the environment.
