Brazil plants 840,000 trees to restore 607 hectares of Atlantic Forest
A conservation partnership has successfully restored 607 hectares of Brazil's Atlantic Forest by planting 840,000 trees. The project has reconnected wildlife corridors and restored wetlands, leading to the return of numerous bird and mammal species.
Why it matters
This initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of long-term ecological restoration in reversing the damage caused by centuries of deforestation in a critical biodiversity hotspot.
Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has lost much of its original cover after centuries of exploitation and deforestation. A conservation partnership between World Land Trust (WLT) and Brazilian NGO Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu (REGUA) has spent two decades protecting the remaining forest and restoring damaged habitats. REGUA has planted 840,000 trees on degraded land, restoring 607 hectares (1,500 acres) to forest.According to World Land Trust (WLT), the work has also created wildlife corridors between isolated forest fragments and helped reconnect populations of plants, animals and fungi. Alongside tree planting, REGUA has restored a lowland wetland where more than 220 bird species have been recorded.How wetland restoration brought wildlife back to the Atlantic ForestREGUA’s wetland restoration began in 2002 after the area had been converted to pasture and arable land in 1982.
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