Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact plan to restore 15 million hectares of forest

Pacto pela Restauração da Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact) is an alliance with the aim of the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact is to restore 15 million hectares of the forest in Brazil by the year 2050, spread across annual plans approved by its Steering Committee.

The Atlantic Forest has been designated by UNESCO as one of the Earth's five most important biodiversity "hotspots" and its largest Biosphere Reserve, making it one of the world's regions with the highest priority for conservation. The want to meet the requirements of environmental agencies, the demand of social and environmental certification and the FSC environmental pressures.

Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact was set up, with the mission of orchestrating public and private institutions, governments, companies and landowners to integrate their efforts and resources towards the preservation of the biological diversity, the generation of employment and income within the restoration production chain, the sustaining and appraisal of and payment of environmental services and the alignment of agricultural activities with the legal requirements in the 17 states covered by this biome.

The cost ranges from 1,000 Brazilian Real to $ 2,000 Brazilian Real per hectare in the case of natural regeneration, and up to 15,000 Brazilian Real, the need for planting seedlings according to Brazilian magazine Valoronline. The easement areas of forest-use third parties to compensate for the lack of legal reserves - can yield  300 Real per hectareand year, analysts say, twice the average income in agriculture said Marcia Hirota, director of SOS Mata Atlantica to Valoronline.

"The appreciation of the native forest can open fronts in the business sector," predicts Renato Carneiro, director of industry Veracel, owns 104 000 hectares of native trees in the region of Porto Seguro (Bahia), mixed with almost equal area of eucalyptus. To mitigate the problem of land concentration, Paulo Dimas, researcher of the cities, proposes the sale of forests to pension funds, allowing the pulp companies to capitalize on the promotion of a multiple-use forestry. The measure, he said, reflected in increased income and diversification of regional businesses.

In Bahia, the pulp and paper company Fibriaplaneja until the end of the year restored 2900 hectares of Atlantic rainforest. They planted 1.5 million seedlings at a cost of $ 8 million Real to solve old environmental liabilities inherited in the merger with Aracruz Celulose.

The region is considered to be the birthplace of the Brazilian environmentalist movement and is home to some of the country's most renowned universities, research centers and NGOs. By providing a catalyst for support from all sectors of society, they hope to attain the common goal of effectively protecting at least 10% of the Atlantic Forest biome by the year 2010.

More information
http://www.pactomataatlantica.org.br