WWF international team visits restoration areas and learns about the results of the Copa\u00edba Association<\/b><\/p>\n
Representatives from WWF in the United States and the Netherlands attended a practical immersion in the ecological restoration actions carried out by Copa\u00edba on May 20 and 21.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n 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 \u2014 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 \u2014 who work mainly in the management and financial support of the projects \u2014 the concrete impacts generated in the field.<\/span><\/p>\n The delegation included six WWF members, including Anita TB Diederichsen, global leader of the organization's ecological restoration agenda. The initiative also reinforces Copa\u00edba's role as a reference in environmental restoration in the interior of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/span><\/p>\n 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 <\/span>Adopt a Forest<\/span><\/i> \u2014 a project led by Copa\u00edba since February 2022, with the aim of showing the delegation other fronts of action of the NGO.<\/span><\/p>\n The group then went to the Copa\u00edba nursery in Socorro, S\u00e3o 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 \u2014 the latter carried out with direct support from WWF. The Executive Secretary and Coordinator of the Copa\u00edba Nursery, Fl\u00e1via 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.<\/span><\/p>\n The second day of the visit (05\/21) was reserved for areas directly supported by the Ra\u00edzes do Mogi Gua\u00e7u 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 S\u00edtio 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.<\/span><\/p>\n In the afternoon, the team traveled to the Barroc\u00e3o 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 \u2014 which were detailed to WWF representatives, especially those from the United States, who had never visited a Brazilian spring.<\/span><\/p>\n Institutional strengthening and connection with the territory<\/b><\/p>\n 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 Copa\u00edba teams, contact with rural producers and visits to restored areas were essential for strengthening relationships and reinforcing confidence in the methodologies applied.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt 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 \u2014 an agenda that is becoming increasingly strategic for environmental conservation and climate resilience in Brazil,\u201d concludes Fl\u00e1via Balderi.<\/span><\/p>\n More about Copaiba<\/b><\/p>\n 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 Copa\u00edba 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 S\u00e3o 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:\u00a0https:\/\/copaiba.org.br\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n