The year was 1999, and four young students who frequented the rivers and waterfalls of Socorro and the region, felt the need to do something that could change those scenarios: dark rivers, with degraded banks, in addition to pollution. It was with the desire to transform these landscapes and the unconditional support of the biology professor, that the first seed of a project germinated, which would later become the Associação Ambientalista Copaíba, recognized nationally and internationally for all the work dedicated in its 24 years. of existence.
“When those four young people came to me, I realized basically three things: the first was the purpose of wanting to do it; the second was the fact that they started collecting plants and seeds, so that we could try to identify them; and the third is that they started to create a small nursery of native seedlings, in an attempt to recover the forest on the banks of the Peixe River.” – comments Gerson Silveira, president of Copaíba and teacher who encouraged students from the first day.
Ana Balderi, Flávia Balderi, Tiago Sartori and Richieri Sartori could hardly have imagined at that time the full extent and proportion that Copaíba would reach. Today, more than 320 rural landowners have already participated in ecological restoration, with more than 650 hectares of planted land and 3.5 million seedlings produced at the Copaíba Forest Nursery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 500 thousand seedlings. The numbers really are high and multiply when we combine them with the other two pillars of action: environmental education, which has already included over 30 thousand people participating in the experiences and intends, in this year 2023 alone, to serve more than two thousand; and public policies, which was strengthened this year and has worked in direct contact with some of the city halls in the area of operation, collaborating with municipal plans for the Atlantic Forest and in defense of environmental conservation.
“Copaíba’s support was extremely important because they have always understood this. They came here, did the project, they have the nursery with the seedlings, they are the most important part of the reforestation. It is a capable team, which truly has the purpose of conserving and bringing this wonderful nature closer to us.” – says Sinara Ferraz, rural owner of Sítio Viver na Natureza, who is restoring her property in Monte Alegre do Sul, with support from Copaíba.
Copaíba has received many awards and achievements during its history, such as Best Environmental NGO in 2019 and one of the 100 best NGOs in Brazil, this same year. In 2020 he received the Muriqui Prize, one of the biggest biodiversity awards. In the last year, the Atlantic Forest was announced at the UN Biodiversity Conference, COP-15, as one of the ten reference ecosystems for restoration in the world, with Copaíba being an integral part of the Pact for the Restoration of the Atlantic Forest, indicated by them. . In January this year, Copaíba becomes one of the Official Actors in Brazil, of the United Nations Decade of Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and, it does not intend to stop there, always seeking to be more engaged and committed to actions every day environmental.

“At the beginning, we had no idea of the immensity of this work. I think today we have a perception of how positive this is.” – comments Flávia Balderi, Executive Secretary and coordinator of Viveiro Florestal. Indeed, the numbers, achievements, recognition, committed and competent work team, directors, volunteers, advisors, partner companies, contributors, students, visitors and all those who believe in and experience in practice the conservation and restoration of the Atlantic Forest, count the story by itself.

24 years are enough to tell a beautiful story, but we hope that there are many more to come, so that Copaíba is always remembered for its legacy, which lives in the present, as a reference and points to a more balanced, sustainable and transformative future.

This story is being told through the new institutional video.

Check it out on the website: https://youtu.be/pHLrIgIr6rk?si=GQMkVkVSQmtI_h9t