Pará follows through on COP28 pledge to restore native vegetation

The Amazonian state of Pará, in Brazil’s North, has officially released an ecological restoration plan to counteract deforestation, having pledged to do so during last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai.

The so-called “Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation in Pará” includes the bold target of restoring 5.65 million hectares of degraded forest by 2030 — an area almost three times the size of the U.S. state of Massachusetts.

The Brazilian federal government under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for zero Amazon deforestation by 2030.

For any plan to curb Amazon deforestation or revitalize degraded areas, the state of Pará will be central. Since 2006, the state has been the source of the most deforestation in the so-called Legal Amazon. Of the ten municipalities with the most deforestation in 2023, six are found in Pará.

Led by the environment secretariat of Pará state, the vegetation recovery plan foresees more than 225 initiatives in the environmental, social, and economic spheres.

“It’s not just a strategy of ecological restoration, its a way to strengthen the local economy by valuing our natural riches,” wrote Helder Barbalho, governor of Pará, in the plan’s introduction. “It offers new opportunities for family farming, encouraging sustainable practices that ensure our food safety and preserve traditional knowledge. The plan respects the profound connection between our people and the land.”

Belém, the state capital of Pará and the second-largest city in the Amazon, is scheduled to host COP in 2025. However, there are concerns about the city’s ability to host major global events.

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