Overview
In Brazil’s Pontal do Paranapanema region, a series of Climate Crowd interviews conducted by our partners from the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE) revealed that changing rainfall patterns and drought have had serious impacts on people and wildlife living in the region. To combat these changes, WWF and IPE worked together on this project to improve the resilience of a local watershed and improve habitat connectivity through community-based reforestation.
Once mature, the newly planted tropical forest will provide direct benefits to people such as water provision services, decreased damage from wind storms and protection from soil degradation and erosion. In addition to its function as a carbon sink, the new forest will also contribute to important habitat corridors for local wildlife including the endangered black lion tamarin, as well as ocelots, jaguars, monkeys, and armadillos, and create a buffer zone for the The Black Lion Tamarin Ecological Station.
Materials:
List of native species planted
(sourced from local agroforestry nurseries):
Luehea divaricata
Anadenanthera macrocarpa
Anadenanthera colubrina
Lithraea molleoides
Schinus terebinthifolius
Platonia insignis
Terminalia argentea
Peltophorum dubium
Trema micrantha
Mabea fistulifera
Rapanea ferruginea
Gochnatia polimorpha
Cedrela fissilis
Copaífera langsdorfii
Poecilanthe parviflora
Lafoensia pacari
Casearia sylvestris
Cecropia pachystachya
Lonchocarpus muehlbergianus
Ficus insipida
Ficus guaranitica
Campomanesia xanthocarpa
Inga uruguensis
Inga laurina
Handroanthus chrysotrichus
Tabebuia chrysotrica
Tabebuia roseo-alba
Handroanthus impetiginosus
Handroanthus heptaphyllus
Jacaranda mimosifolia
Jaracatia spinosa
Hymenaea courbaril
Cariniana estrellensis
Mimosa bimucronata
Guazuma ulmifolia
Ceiba speciosa
Gallesia integrifolia
Heliocarpus popayanensis
Triplaris brasiliana
Cytharexyllum myrianthum
Pterocarpus violaceus
Aspidosperma polyneuruon
Eugenia uniflora
Sapindus saponaria
Croton urucurana
Maclura tinctoria
Enterolobium contortisiliquum
Dictyoloma vandellianum
Implementation:
Completion of 31 Climate Crowd surveys in communities living in the Pontal of Paranapanema region of Brazil’s state of Sao Paolo
Participatory planning of the area to be restored (a parcel of degraded land bordering the Black Lion Tamarin Ecological Station), including involvement of the manager of the protected area, the local communities, members of the watershed committees, local universities, schools and NGOs.
The hiring of local contractors to conduct soil preparation using plowing, sorting and manual removal of grasses/other exotic species, soil pH monitoring and other measures in the project site.
Lectures and training workshops conducted in communities bordering the protected area.
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Sourcing of seeds from local nurseries.
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Planting of seedlings at the start of the rainy season through community mobilization: Trees planted include native species and pioneers of rapid growth (50% pioneer and 50% non-pioneer species) and were spaced 2 meters apart, with 2.5 meters between each row.
Participatory monitoring to monitor the healthy growth of planted trees, in additional to ongoing maintenance including site visits to perform ant (Atta spp.) control, prevent invasion of grasses, and replant more than 200 trees to replace those that did not survive.
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Important Considerations
With any restoration project, continued maintenance post-planting is necessary to ensure seedlings reach maturity. A plan must be in place to manage encroachment of invasive plants and impacts from pests, for example.
Indicators:
Direct Outputs:
- 2000 tree seedlings (48 native species) planted
Capacity Building:
- Over 600 people from local community trained on local protected area and tree planting
Outcomes:
Immediate project outcomes include:
- Economic benefits for the local community through the contracting of labor for soil preparation, and acquisition of native tree seedlings from local nurseries
- Increased awareness of socio-environmental issues of the region through involvement of various social segments of the local community.
- Strengthening of partnerships with government institutions, residents, NGOs, universities, river basin committee, companies, conservation units and schools
Ongoing monitoring efforts will measure tree growth and provide further insights on project outcomes over the next several years.
