Copaíba was founded on September 7, 1999, realizing the degradation of the Atlantic Forest in the region. Forest fragmentation is part of the regional context of the hydrographic basins of the Peixe and Camanducaia rivers. Forest areas that historically were continuous, forming large massifs, were divided into forest fragments, often small and insufficient to fulfill their ecological role. This fragile and worrying scenario, from the point of view of environmental conservation, signaled the need for concrete recovery actions, which led to the creation of Copaíba.

Copaíba's mission is to: Conserve and restore the Atlantic Forest of the Peixe and Camanducaia river basins, located in the east of São Paulo and in the south of Minas Gerais and, in the fulfillment of its institutional mission over 21 years of work, has led different projects and strategies, aiming at the conservation of the Atlantic Forest. Whether through environmental restoration, the production of seedlings of native trees, environmental awareness or environmental public policies. Until today, Copaíba has planted, in partnership with landowners in the region, 689.430.000 seedlings in 458 hectares, protecting the surroundings of 265springs and the shore 144 streams. Within the social impact, the projects have involved more than 200 landowners distributed in 19 municipalities.

But what does the region and its residents gain from the forest restoration initiatives developed by Copaíba?

Ecological restoration aims to transform degraded areas into forests of biodiversity. And that has environmental benefits for everyone, such as protection of springs and rivers, wildlife habitat, reproduction of endangered species, soil conservation and carbon sequestration. Those ecosystem services translate into clean air, preventing respiratory diseases; quality water; leisure places like our beloved waterfalls; presence of animals that allow pollination, which helping the production of the food we consume. So, in the end… we all win with these forest recovery strategies implemented by Copaíba.

Copaíba works in communities with landowners in rural areas interested in restoring their properties; counts on the support of collaborating companies; partnerships with non-governmental entities and a team made up of regional residents, mostly women! Copaiba's trajectory in defense of the Atlantic Forest is nationally recognized, so last year it won two more important awards for the third sector: for the best NGOs of 2019 and the stamp donate, recognizing its transparency in management.

Before and after images of the first area restored by Copaíba with Fehidro resources (CBH-MOGI)