Unprecedented study by Copaíba will survey important areas for nature conservation in the region

Forest restoration is the process of helping the recovery or re-establishment of native vegetation that, at some point, has been degraded or completely destroyed. The forest, when conserved or recovered, plays a fundamental role in the water cycle and climate stabilization, in addition to contributing to the conservation of the soil, wild fauna and the maintenance of other environmental services.

This is one of Copaíba's greatest challenges, restoring and conserving the Atlantic Forest of the Peixe and Camanducaia river basins – the two main rivers in the Águas Paulista circuit region and also in the south of Minas Gerais.

To help in this mission and to know where the areas that are important to be recovered are, Copaíba is carrying out a study of the entire region, focusing on the native forests that already exist. “The study is unprecedented and focuses on analyzing the importance of forest fragments for maintaining the functional connectivity of the Peixe and Camanducaia river basins, that is, it will be through it that we will have delimited which are the most important areas in the region that, if connected through forest recovery, will bring an important gain in terms of biodiversity conservation”, comments the Copaíba Forest Restoration Coordinator.

To date, Copaíba has contributed to the forest restoration of more than 340 hectares. These areas are distributed in more than 200 properties in the region's municipalities. According to the institution's own data, this study will also contribute to helping public authorities, such as City Halls, Prosecutors, Secretaries and Councils of the Environment, bringing knowledge and clarity of the location of these priority areas to be conserved in each of the municipalities of the two worked. . “This study is an important public policy tool, which will strengthen the database on native vegetation in our region”, adds Flávia Balderi, coordinator of the Verde Novo project.

To learn more about the New Green Project, visit the website copaiba.org.br/verdenovo/