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Recovery of forests and other forms of native vegetation has become a strategic agenda for Brazil: there are roughly 19 million hectares of degraded areas, as well as pastures with some degree of degeneration. Ecological restoration is one of the activities that can make significant contributions to facing climate change on a global scale: one of the great challenges of the twenty-first century.
Within this scenario, companies dedicated to this activity are emerging with the objective of restoring millions of hectares across Brazil’s various biomes; this work is possible through business models that include the sale of forest products (both wood and non-timber) and carbon credits.
The Society for Ecological Restoration defines ecological restoration as the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Restoration can take place through direct planting of native seedlings or seeds, as well as through natural regeneration (assisted or spontaneous).
By growing mostly native species, previously degraded areas can once again harbor life, recover their natural cycles and contribute directly to mitigating climate change. Trees grown for this purpose help restore ecosystems, form ecological corridors, protect springs and soils and sequester carbon from the atmosphere — an essential environmental service in times of climate emergency.
Recovering degraded ecosystems.
Protecting biodiversity.
Valuing traditional knowledge.
Generating employment in rural areas.
Improving air and water quality.
Mitigating the impact of climate change.
Ecological restoration is strategic for Brazil, and represents an innovative model capable of generating positive results for the economy, society and the environment.
This activity goes beyond responding to the climate crisis: it is also a concrete solution for tackling the other major challenges of this century, such as biodiversity loss, water scarcity and food security.
The carbon market:
In restoration, the main way of obtaining forest carbon is by expanding carbon removal and storage by planting trees, which absorb CO2 as they grow, transforming the carbon into biomass.
This carbon sequestration capacity can be converted into credits, which serve as a “certificate” and can be traded by companies and governments to offset their emissions.
Payment for environmental services
Along with the carbon market, payment for environmental services is an important economic instrument for stimulating the recovery, maintenance, and improvement of ecosystems.
Ecological restoration activities promote various ecosystem services such as the provision of goods and products (including food such as açaí and Brazil nuts, wood and fiber), support services that help maintain the continuity of life on earth (like nutrient cycling, waste decomposition, pollination, seed dispersal, controlling populations of potential pests and vectors of human diseases, biodiversity and genetic heritage), regulatory services (such as carbon removal, improving air quality, mitigating extreme events, balancing the water cycle, minimizing floods and droughts and controlling erosion and landslides), as well as cultural services that provide intangible benefits to society such as recreation, leisure and tourism.
For this reason, incentives for environmental services in the form of payments can help expand the scale of these initiatives while also stimulating the development and improvement of the different links that comprise up the restoration chain, fostering the growth of new sectors such as the socio-bioeconomy, and also becoming a fundamental pillar for sustainable agriculture by boosting soil fertility, which is essential for agricultural production.
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