Brazilian Mata Atlântica Plant-A-Tree Agroforestry Project

This project is supported by the Big Tree plant-a-tree program. The goal of the Brazilian Mata Atlântica plant-a-tree agroforestry project is to help preserve and reforest Bahia’s critical rain forest through indigenous tree plantings and cacao production. The aim is to drive sustainable agro-forestry projects, support the Mata Atlântica’s rich biodiversity and create jobs for the unemployed in rural Bahia.

The goal of this project is to not only replant indigenous trees on the degraded land that once held forest but to support the development of forest products in order to maximize the value of the reforested land to local communities.

In a 2003 study released by the World Watch Institute, researchers Chris Bright and Radhika Sarin outlined how cacao could be grown in a way that would help restore the northern part of the Mata Atlântica biome, while encouraging other forms of development that preserve forest instead of destroying it.

“Cocoa has serious potential for conservation because it is a high-value crop that can be grown under rainforest canopy,” says Mr. Bright, the lead author of Venture Capitalism for a Tropical Forest. “Cocoa is shade-tolerant, so farmers don’t have to clear all their forest in order to make a living with it.”

The trees that will be planted on this land include:

• Cedro – Cedrela fissilis
• Pau D’arco – Tecoma Curialis
• Ipê – abebuia serratifolia
• Jatobá – Hymenaea courbaril
• Conduru – Brosimum rubescens
• Juerana – Balizia pedicellaris
• Pau Brasil – Caesalpinia echinata
• Cacao – Theobroma cacao
• Jequitibá – Cariniana estrellensis