Over past decades, we have often heard that Brazil's deforestation crisis has been a serious threat to our environment and to all the wildlife that lives in the South American nation’s rainforests. The rate of deforestation has been of grave concern to environmentalists for many years, and it is true that the country lost almost 2.7 million hectares of forest cover in 2019 alone.
However, the tide may be beginning to turn, and reforestation in Brazil offers a big opportunity. Thousands of budding entrepreneurs, farmers and NGOs are now restoring forest land and degraded farms through the Alliance for the restoration of the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact. Moreover, some landowners are also helping in supporting biodiverse, carbon-rich forests that grow back naturally. Others also help produce paper and timber, especially for the international market. In this blog, we will see in detail how Brazil's forests are being restored.
How Much Of Brazil's Forest Land Is to be restored?
There are three ways through which restoration is taking place in Brazil.
- Natural Regeneration: Natural regeneration typically means that, through protection of land, the natural process of reforestation is being allowed to take place. Protecting areas from logging, preventing forest fires and allowing native species to return naturally to degraded pasture is one of the more cost effective ways of allowing ecosystems to recover. Mostly anchored by a variety of key species of native flora, natural regeneration is an important but often slow part of reforestation. An area of 24 million acres of Amazon forest land is reported to have been under this natural regeneration process since the year 2008.
- Reforestation: Reforestation of land for the purposes of economically productive forestry is an important part of the process. Although this has many fewer benefits for biodiversity and the natural world, it is an important part of Brazil’s economy, and the benefits of sustainable forestry cannot be ignored in the fight against deforestation. It prevents further deforestation of primary forests and, when conducted in a considered way, provides jobs in rural areas and contributes to the protection of ecologically important habitats in the rest of the country
- Forest Restoration Projects: Forest restoration projects are an extremely important part of nature protection in Brazil. These projects take time and money and involve actively restoring land for the purposes of nature conservation. These projects often come with the goal of boosting different ecosystem services such as carbon storage or improving the quality of water, in addition to the protection of nature.
Why Is Restoration Data so Important?
Reliable, accurate and extensive data is essential to the fight for reforestation and nature protection. By allowing us to see the bigger picture, it empowers organisations, stakeholders and communities to make the best and most impactful decisions in the most cost-effective ways. Furthermore, it also helps show governments, financers, and the international community the importance and effectiveness of investing in the restoration of ecosystems. For now, this data, the observatory, and the diverse partnership behind it help in offering a clear-cut first step towards the restoration of Brazil’s forest cover.
