Promoting ecosystem restoration is not such a simple mission and goes beyond simply reforesting degraded areas. Of course, planting trees always makes a difference, but our purpose here at Abundance Brasil involves taking special care when it comes to biodiversity.
Our forests consider this factor to be fundamental when planning new plantations. Do you know why? We'll explain more about it below. Follow along to discover the main reasons!
Analysis of native composition
One of the first steps before restoring an environmental area is to analyze its native composition. It's important to use species that are already common in the region, because they are used to living there and adapt well to the soil conditions, temperature, humidity and all the other variables.
Going the other way - in other words, failing to take this precaution and choosing species that are exotic to the environment - can unbalance the entire ecosystem. The planting may not work, the financial investment may be wasted and, even worse, the local ecosystem may be damaged.
Brazilian biodiversity
Brazil is the country with the greatest biodiversity in the world. According to the federal government, there are "more than 116,000 animal species and more than 46,000 plant species known in the country, spread across six terrestrial biomes and three large marine ecosystems".
The disparity is such that many Brazilian states probably have more tree species than the whole of Europe. What's more, Brazil still has many species that science doesn't even recognize yet. So it's a mistake to try to restore ecosystems without exploiting (in a good way) all possible potential. It would be like making a restaurant with only one type of food and not serving any customers because of it.
To give you an idea, our Aurora Verde forest has been planted with seedlings of various species characteristic of the region:
- Painted wood
- Maranhão chestnut
- Ipê
- Urucum
- Jacaranda
- Jequitibá
- Pepper tree
- Jatobá
- Cow's foot
- Pink cedar
The importance of avoiding monoculture
In reality, there are many reasons to promote biodiversity, especially when it comes to creating new forests - which is what we do with planned plantations such as Aurora Verde.
Some of the main points are:
- Different plants demand resources in different ways (soil nutrients, water, etc.). So monoculturing trees is like telling the soil that we will always take the same things from it, without giving back what it needs.
- Different species of trees attract different species of animals, such as birds, insects and others. With greater variety, we have a richer ecosystem and the food chain is also favored.
- A diverse forest is usually better able to contain attacks from "pests", as they become part of the food network promoted by the hundreds of species.
- Forests are living environments. Plants grow, die, decay or sprout in different cycles, creating a dynamic for the beings that live there. By placing too few species, we prevent these natural cycles from happening.
Anyway, now that you're a little more up to speed on the subject, you should know that a good environmental restoration project doesn't just involve reforesting an area by planting a large number of a single species of tree. It's important to consider biodiversity and create rich ecosystems that generate carbon credits and other benefits!
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