Collectors search for seeds in the Karitiana Indigenous Territory, in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. Native seeds are essential for preserving the country’s biodiversity and achieving restoration goals. Photo Credit: Jonathan Molino / Ecoporé
Environment BrazilThe “Guardians of Socio-Biodiversity” Are Reviving Their Forest!
Brazilian forest restoration is accelerating, thanks to networks of native seed collectors powering projects to revive millions of hectares of degraded land.
“Seed networks are guardians of socio-biodiversity and the first link in the restoration chain. So strengthening them is super-strategic,” says Thiago Belote, Director of Forests at Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.
Since 2021, the Amazon Bioeconomy Seed Network (Reseba) has gathered 620 seed collectors from Indigenous, quilombola, extractive reserve, and family farming communities. They’ve sold 84 tonnes of native seeds, generating BRL 1.5 million (around USD 280,000), and provided seeds for the restoration of 500 hectares in Rondônia in 2024. Brazil aims to restore 12 million hectares by 2030 — a goal that requires roughly 15,000 tonnes of seeds, with the potential to create 60,000 jobs and generate USD 146 million in the seed market.
