Environmental Recovery

Since November 1999, 175 hectares have been reforested (26% of the total area), 470,000 native trees have been planted in areas that had previously been either devastated or used as pastureland.

In 2001, The Atlantic Forest Conservation Alliance (SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation and Conservation International - Brazil), donated to Instituto Terra nursery for 128,000 seedlings. In 2002, the Brazilian Ministry of Environment donated a bigger nursery for 522.000 seedlings. Instituto Terra has used the seedlings for both its own reforestation efforts as well as for Aimorés Project and neighboring municipalities. The seeds are collected in a radius of 150 Km of the Bulcão Farm. In 2003 close to 160 species of the Atlantic Forest trees were developed in the nursery.

Water is beginning to come back. Water from the Bulcão stream and other springs is in the process of being recovered. A dam, which had previously been silted up, and two other springs have been recovered so far. During the dry season the recovered springs meet their outflows in around 20 liters/minute. We have started the recovery process of two other springs on the Instituto Terra farm.

Research

Monitoring of the plantation, the fauna and the flora

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. We have identified 156 species of birds on the farm, and 6 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) and Sicalis flaveola (canário da terra verdadeiro); 21 species of mammals, 2 of them in extincting in the world – Callicebus personatus (sauá ou guigó) and Leopardus pardalis (jaguatirica) – besides two others in extinction in Brazil – Leopardus tigrinus (gato do mato pequeno) and Puma concolor (sucuarana/puma/onça parda), as well as 142 plant species.

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.

Environmental Education

Educational Center for the Environmental Recovery – CERA started its activities on February 19, 2002, and up to September 30, 2003, CERA has offered 130 courses/events to 2,430 students from 46 different municipalities from Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. As part of the program with the Landless Movement, agriculture technicians and producers from Minas, Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro have also participated in courses offered by CERA. For more information on CERA and its courses please visit the page CERA/Courses of this website.

The children from nearby schools visit the Institute daily. An instructor explains the entire project, showing the various steps of the development process.

Sustainable Development of the Region

Promoting mitigating actions on impacts caused by deforestation that teach important lessons to be applied on the region; for the ordained use of natural resources, maintaining the vegetation covering, such as soil conservation and genetic diversity maintenance and water cycles; increasing employment locally and regionally; experimenting techniques for adequate recovery and use of sustainable natural resources; searching for agroecological alternatives of production; educating the local municipal leadership on concepts like “conservation and social environmental sustainability”; disseminating information about environmental management among the local community, schools, rural producers, Aimorés and regional citizens.

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