Environmental Recovery

The Instituto Terra took as a mission the commitment of the recovery of 608,69 hectares of Atlantic Forest at the Bulcão Farm, in Aimorés, Minas Gerais. This area was totally degraded when was entitled as Private Natural Heritage Reserve – PNHR Bulcão Farm – in the year of 1998.

The first planting was done in December 1999 and since then 549.80 hectares have already been worked. With the plantation of 140,000 seedlings realized in the last harvest (2009/2010), miss recover only less than 10% of the PNHR - job that must be concluded by January 2012. After this period, new interventions will be made to enrich the areas seeking to enlarge the number of species and genomes of the Atlantic Forest.

Year by Year, with the support of important partners, it was possible to plant more than 1,5 millions of tree`s seedlings in the Bulcão Farm. This originated a young forest that actually is home for more than 293 species of plants that are original from the Atlantic Forest.

1999	2009

 

The nursery

Actually, the seedlings used or in the internal plantation in RPPN or in the external projects are fully provided by the nursery of the Instituto Terra.

The first nursery of the Instituto Terra was donated in 2001 by The Atlantic Forest Conservation Alliance (SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation and Conservation International - Brazil). With a capacity for 68 thousands of seedlings it started its production in 2002.

In 2002, the Ministry of the Environment of the Brazilian Government donated a bigger nursery with room for 532 thousands of seedlings.

In 2007, started by a agreement established with the Government of Minas Gerais, through the Environment and Development of the Sustainable Secretary, a new expantion of the nursery began to guarantee a annual production of 1 million seedlings.

The seeds used are collected near the Bulcão Farm (around 200 Km far) and 156 species of Atlantic Forest are being developed at the nursery.

Nursery - Click here to see other photos.

Research

Because environmental recovery in degraded areas is still relatively new in Brazil, most of our work is based on research and is experimental in nature. Today, through monitoring, we can see the results of our work. This is evident in the growth of the trees and, an emerging forest rich in biomass and diversity in an area which had previously been completely degraded.

The animals which had been disappearing are returning to the area as they have found at Institute Terra a safe refuge.

Until now, it was identified at the Bulcão Farm:

• 172 species of birds, and six of them are endangered species – Amazona rhodocorytha (chauá), Amazona vinacea (papagaio de peito roxo), Campephilus robustus (pica pau rei), Procnias nudicollis (araponga), Propyrrhura maracana (maracanã) e Sicalis flaveola (canário da terra verdadeiro).
  
  
• 33 species of mammals, two of them in extincting in the world – Callicebus personatus (sauá ou guigó) e Puma concolor (onça parda, suçuarana) – and other three in extincting in Brasil – Leopardus pardalis (jaguatirica), Leopardus tigrinus (gato do mato pequeno) e Puma concolor (suçuarana/puma/onça parda).
  
  
• 15 species of amphibians.
  
  
• 15 species of reptiles.
  
  
• 293 species of plants.
  
  The soil found on the farm, offering great diversity, is predominantly eutrophic dark red which is naturally fertile, but highly susceptible to erosion and has little capacity for water infiltration. The soil characteristic demands urgent re-vegetation efforts.
  

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