Protecting the abundantly biodiverse Southern Amazon from deforestation
Brazil has the greatest concentration of biodiversity on the entire planet – its abundant life forms represent 20% of all known species on Earth. Yet the county's rich rainforests face alarming rates of deforestation – which is particularly problematic in the Southern Amazonian region. Weak governance in the area and encroaching agricultural activities are leaving the forest vulnerable to cattle ranching and timber harvesting.
To learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals verified by the standard for this project, please check the project's registry link above.
Straddling the borders of the Amazonas and Acre states in Brazil, the project forms a vital conservation buffer, protecting an area of over 186,300 hectares of forest on an estate named the Fazenda Seringal Novo Macapá. Under a certified Forest Stewardship Council (SFMP) sustainable forest management plan, the project protects a vast swathe of the Southwestern Amazon from deforestation by maintaining carbon stocks, ensuring sustainable timber harvests, and increasing forest surveillance.
Preventing deforestation in the region keeps carbon in the rainforest safely stored away, reducing emissions associated with cutting down trees in the Southern Amazon. In addition to its environmental benefits, the project is registered under the Social Carbon Standard, certifying positive community impacts such as the creation of local job opportunities in project management and conservation activities. Promoting local knowledge development, the project supports community initiatives in environmental education whilst aiming to safeguard local traditional cultures. Categorised by the Brazilian Government's Ministry for the Environment as a priority area for conservation, the region is home to a plethora of rare and endangered plant and wildlife species, including 345 bird species, of which 3 are vulnerable and 27 are endemic to the Southern Amazon. By protecting the rainforest from being cut down the project also creates an important biodiversity corridor, which is vital to the survival of iconic and endangered Amazonian wildlife such as the jaguar, the lowland tapir, and the puma.
