For 22 years, Veracel–which is Stora Enso‘s joint venture in Brazil–has been planting seedlings of native tree species in local rainforests as part of the Atlantic Rainforest Program.
The goal has been to restore over 5,000 hectares of Atlantic rainforest, and to establish ecological corridors. These corridors help maintain biodiversity by enabling animals and plants to move around and spread naturally, instead of being confined to isolated patches of surviving rainforest.
This is particularly important for prey animals such as deer, monkeys and armadillos that need the protection of natural rainforest vegetation.
Veracel has come a long way since the first 207 seedlings of native species were planted in 1994.
This spring, a major milestone was reached as more than four million seedlings have now been planted within the programme.
This amounts to 5,695 hectares of restored rainforest, located in the municipalities of Belmonte, Eunápolis, Itabela, Itagimirim, Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabrália in southern Bahia.