Welcome to our Tech Roundup, where we bring you the biggest stories in technology and innovation in Brazil and Latin America. This week: A local indigenous community carrying out a restoration project in the Atlantic Forest biome.
An indigenous community’s hands-on approach to reforestation
In 2022, Lactec, a technology and innovation research institute based in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, became interested in a public notice from the Brazilian Diversity Fund (Funbio) focused on reforestation projects in the Atlantic Forest biome. During its search for ideal partners and areas, the institute received a tip from energy distributor Copel about the Guairicana National Park, a national environmental reserve also located in Paraná.
Context. Born on an old farm owned by Bamerindus, a bank buried in debts that HSBC partially purchased in the late 1990s, the 49,200-hectare area turned reserve was given to the federal government as payment for back taxes. The restoration project by Lactec and Funbio targeted a 100-hectare area within the park.
Ideal partnership. During his first contact with the area and conversations with residents, Lactec researcher Juliano Santos found the ideal partnership for the project in the local indigenous community, the Tupã Nhé Kretã village.
- They participated in all three phases (diagnosis, planting, and monitoring) of the project and were trained not only in forest restoration, seedlings, and planting, but also in using technological devices.
Why it matters. In Brazil, just 24 percent of the Atlantic Forest remains preserved, according to the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation. The conservation of the remnants and the recovery of their native vegetation are essential to preserving one of the biomes that most contribute to the regulation of the climate and water supply in the country.
- Most importantly, this project has much more meaning for the local community.
- “It was the first time I saw the direct social impact of a reforestation project. In other projects I...
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