In a joint effort to promote sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation, Socorro City Hall is leading a project to implement Productive Agroforestry Systems (SAFs) on rural properties in the city. With the support of CATI and the Raízes do Mogi Guaçu Program, this project not only offers technical support and resources to local farmers, but also demonstrates the commitment of municipal authorities to building a greener and more resilient future.

Still in March 2023, Municipal Law No. 4539/2023 was sanctioned, providing for the municipal policy on agroecology and organic production in Socorro, and with the objective of integrating, articulating and adapting public policies, programs and actions for agroecological transition and organic and agroecological-based production, contributing to sustainable development and the population's quality of life, through the conscious use of environmental resources and the supply and consumption of healthy foods.

The Productive Agroforestry Systems project is an initiative of the Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development of Socorro City Hall, approved within the scope of the Refloresta SP Program, financed by the State Secretariat for Infrastructure, Environment and Logistics through the State Fund for Prevention and Control of Pollution – FECOP. It began in June 2023, in the Socorro Municipal Agroecological Station, where its first demonstration area was planted. The second area with the same objective is now being created at the Copaíba headquarters, in the Pedra Branca neighborhood. These areas will serve as an example and incentive for sustainable practices in agriculture and as a means for environmental education.

SAFs are a form of cultivation that integrates native trees with agricultural crops, and this consortium is capable of promoting productive diversity and ecosystem regeneration, which guarantees the conservation of natural resources and meets the perspectives of sustainable rural development.

Copaiba Environmental Association

Through the Raízes do Mogi Guaçu Program, Copaíba is providing seedlings of native species that are part of the SAFs, to be used in the implementation, ensuring biodiversity and the adaptation of plants to the local environment. Species such as: Cotton, Aroeira pimenteira, Fumo wild, Mutambo, Jatobá, Peroba-poca, Cedro rosa, etc., are part of the list that makes up the more than 20 SAF projects from rural landowners in the city.

Copaíba is implementing two models of Agroforestry Systems on its property, the first of which consists of: coffee, avocado, banana, service natives and timber natives; and the second for: coffee, banana, service natives, native timber or chestnuts, fruit trees, Juçara and papaya.

“It will be very important to have this Agroforestry space here in Copaíba. We hope it will be a space for exchange, where owners can visit and learn about this system.” – comments Flávia Balderi, executive secretary and coordinator of the forest nursery. She finishes with laughter: “And in the future we will be able to offer our partners and friends coffee from our own Agroforest!”

The project represents a significant step in promoting sustainable agriculture and environmental preservation in the region. By encouraging the implementation of SAFs on rural properties, a new path is opened for a more resilient and balanced future, where people will have the guarantee of their food security and rural owners will see new ways and opportunities to diversify their sources of income .