One of the sites designated for reforestation in Brazil’s Pará state. Photo Credit: Ricardo Lisboa/FT

Environment Brazil31. March 2023

Reforesting the Rainforest – Environmentally and Financially Profitable!

Brazil is turning to start-ups to reforest its portion of the Amazon rainforest – and while they generate revenue by selling carbon credits, the country’s biome is replenishing to the benefit of the entire planet.

“We need to create a reforestation industry that is at the scale of the pulp and paper industry. This is not artisanal. This is not an NGO job,” states Peter Fernández, chief executive and co-founder of São Paulo-based Mombak, a reforestation start-up.

Following the election of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, environmental protection is once again on the agenda. And while the government makes efforts to prevent the forest’s destruction, private companies are jumping in to make their part by replanting millions of trees, like Mombak whose goal is to replant trees on 50,000 hectares – currently, the start-up is planting 3 million trees across 3,000 hectares in the state of Pará, one of the largest projects aimed at reforesting the Amazon – to ultimately remove 1 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year by 2030. Private companies buy or lease land on which they plant trees. They generate revenue by selling carbon credits used to compensate for the pollution produced by the buyers’ activities. According to Project Drawdown, reforestation of tropical and temperate forests can help remove 113 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere by 2050. It is twice as effective as silvopasture (the integration of trees with livestock), the second most effective method.

Source:
Financial Times

:::::: Related Articles

Back to top button