Brazil Community Reforestation Program
Location: Sao Paulo State, BrazilPlaneterra is working with local communities in Southern Brazil to reforest their lands. This program, which will result in 450,000 trees planted by the end of the year, will provide the communities and local farmers of Parana, São Paulo, Marilia, O
riente and Londrina with access to training workshops and seedlings, so that they can increase food production, create natural barriers on their lands, provide shade and fodder for livestock and other animals. Agroforestry students from the University of Londrina are working with settlement populations to help provide training to new residents of the area, who were once landless. Training manuals have been developed in Portugese and are being distributed to different community groups. This program will provide not only environmental benefits but will engage local community groups in determining their own land-use practices in a move towards greater self-sufficiency.
We are working in Brazil with Trees for the Future (TFTF), a Washington DC-based organization that has been committed to reforesting areas and planting indigenous species since 1989. We have chosen to partner with Trees For The Future for their expertise in developing reforestation programs with the involvement and direction of local people and communities.
Why is this project needed?
Rainforests, often times called the lungs of the planet, absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They give us clean air, clean water, are home to thousands of
species of plants and animals,
and keep our climate in balance, even regulating the world’s rainfall.
When we lose forests, not only do we lose their air and water-cleaning
services, but habitat for hundreds of species, sources of food, wood
and medicinal products, not to mention beautiful recreational areas
that have taken hundreds and sometimes thousands of years to grow.
Forest loss often impacts the world’s poorest most, who depend on
forests for their basic needs.Some of the greatest losses of the world's tropical forest have taken place in Brazil. This vast nation has lost hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Amazonian forests, an area larger than many countries. Deforestation in Brazil is largely due to clearing land for cattle ranching and other commercial agriculture as well as logging. While this news is grim, there are positive steps that can be taken to combat this cycle of forest loss including reforestation, expanding protected areas and developing methods of sustainable forestry that can be employed by local people who will benefit economically while maintaining the natural ecosystems.
Learn more about the program and how easy it is to contribute when you travel with Gap Adventures
DONATE to the Community Reforestation Program
Help us provide more communities with the skills and training needed to reforest their own lands. Donations will be used to develop similar programs in new communities in Asia and Africa.
Latin America Photo Gallery
No photos available.
Donate to The Brazil Community Reforestation Program
| $15,000.00 | |
100% of your contribution goes directly toward helping these projects achieve their goals and all individual donations are matched dollar-for-dollar by Gap Adventures to double the impact!
Other Projects In Latin America
 |
Amazon Community School Location: Amazon, Ecuador |
 |
Bolivia Health Program Location: Sucre, Bolivia |
 |
Brazil Favela Project Location: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil |
 |
Cuba Schoolyard Project Location: Trinidad & Baracoa, Cuba |
 |
Cuzco Kids Project Location: Cuzco, Peru |
 |
Ecuador Community Tourism Project Location: Otavalo, Ecuador |
 |
Guatemala Scholarship Fund Location: Antigua, Guatemala |
 |
Peru Women's Weaving Co-op Location: Sacred Valley, Peru |
 |
Rio Muchacho Environmental School Location: Bahia, Ecuador |
 |
Sea Turtle Conservation Project Location: Playa Matapalo, Costa Rica |
 |
Women's Micro-credit Project Location: La Ceiba, Honduras |
