WWF international team visits restoration areas and learns about the results of the Copaíba Association

Representatives from WWF in the United States and the Netherlands attended a practical immersion in the ecological restoration actions carried out by Copaíba on May 20 and 21.

During two days of fieldwork in the municipalities of Monte Alegre do Sul and Socorro (SP), the international team from WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) was able to learn first-hand about the different stages involved in a forest restoration process — from seed collection and seedling production to planting and maintenance of restored areas. The visit was carried out with the aim of presenting to foreign colleagues — who work mainly in the management and financial support of the projects — the concrete impacts generated in the field.

The delegation included six WWF members, including Anita TB Diederichsen, global leader of the organization's ecological restoration agenda. The initiative also reinforces Copaíba's role as a reference in environmental restoration in the interior of São Paulo.

On the first day of the agenda (20/05), the visit began in Monte Alegre do Sul, with the team getting to know an area of the program Adopt a Forest — a project led by Copaíba since February 2022, with the aim of showing the delegation other fronts of action of the NGO.

The group then went to the Copaíba nursery in Socorro, São Paulo, where they were shown behind the scenes of the logistical operation: seed collection, production and care of native seedlings, and the expansion of the physical structure — the latter carried out with direct support from WWF. The Executive Secretary and Coordinator of the Copaíba Nursery, Flávia Balderi, led the presentation, highlighting the organization of the teams, the logistical challenges, and the innovations adopted in recent years to meet the growing demand for reforestation.

The second day of the visit (05/21) was reserved for areas directly supported by the Raízes do Mogi Guaçu Program. In the morning, the delegation visited the Toledo family property, in the Saltinho region, with planting carried out in March 2025. Soon after, it was the turn of Sítio do Marino Carlos Garcia, where restoration, which began in 2023, combines techniques for restoring riparian forests with agroforestry systems, in partnership with the City of Socorro.

In the afternoon, the team traveled to the Barrocão neighborhood to visit the area of Victor Orlandi's property. About a year and a half old, the area impressed visitors with its advanced stage of regeneration. The site also has a spring and areas with intense erosion, requiring specific containment and management techniques — which were detailed to WWF representatives, especially those from the United States, who had never visited a Brazilian spring.

Institutional strengthening and connection with the territory

In addition to presenting the technical and environmental advances in the areas undergoing restoration, the visit had an important institutional purpose: it allowed international representatives to understand how the projects they support financially work in practice. Direct exchanges with Copaíba teams, contact with rural producers and visits to restored areas were essential for strengthening relationships and reinforcing confidence in the methodologies applied.

“At the end of the itinerary, the importance of the articulation between technical knowledge, territorial action and international support for the success of large-scale ecological restoration initiatives became evident — an agenda that is becoming increasingly strategic for environmental conservation and climate resilience in Brazil,” concludes Flávia Balderi.

More about Copaiba

Created in 1999 by a group of friends who were concerned about the degradation of the Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Socorro-SP, the Copaíba Environmental Association is a non-profit organization, qualified as a Civil Society Organization of Public Interest (OSCIP) and which operates in 19 municipalities in the eastern region of the State of São Paulo and southern Minas Gerais. Currently, the association promotes ecological restoration projects and programs; production of native seedlings; environmental education initiatives and participation in public policies. In total, more than 4 million seedlings have been produced, 380 partner landowners, 713 hectares have been restored and 40 thousand participants in Environmental Education experiences. Learn more at: https://copaiba.org.br/.