Forests4Water Brazil: Community Climate Action

Hello, dear friends of Forest 4 Water!

Expectations are high for this year's reforestation, and we've been working hard on the preparations to make sure we are ready when the time comes. It's time for the news!

On last Friday, Project Coordinator Gui invited all Iracambi staff members for a meeting where he presented this year's family farmers, the strategies adopted in each property and proposed a logistic planning to make things happen. It might surprise you, dear reader, but reforestation is not only about riding motorcycles through idyllic scenarios and loosing the count of how many cups of coffee you've taken with different family farmers - though we must admit these things are an important part of the process around here. Reforestation demands a lot of hard work, team effort and a good deal of planning.

Nobody really nows when the rain season will start, especially during these Climate Change times we are living. If rain season is unpredictable, so is our planting season. Planting trees is like running against time. Baby trees must take advantage of the seasonal humidity in order to survive the most stressful moment of their lives: leaving our cozy nursery and adapting to the real world. For this reason, we must have a solid ReforesTeam prepared to take action at the first drop of water, and their work must be fast and efficient. We are beginning the reforestation plot preparation next weekend, so when the rain comes every seedling will have a place on the ground to call their own. It will save decisive time and energy of our ReforesTeam. In the last tree count at our nursery, we had more than 6000 seedlings, which will be planted in 25 properties in two different municipalities.

This year, besides planting seedlings, we shall also test different recovering techniques such as inoculating Efficient Microorganisms (EM) collected in the forest in all seedlings, spreading bromelias - famous to be natural water tanks - on the reforestation plots and also using fast growth stem cuttings to protect slower growth native trees - all cheap techniques already familiar to our local family farmers. We are all happy and excited for the chance to partner with the local community in finding a respecful way to preserve Forest and Water.

In this decisive moment we must, once again, ask for your kind generosity. We still lack the resources to hire two extra staff member for our ReforesTeam. After all, we will need all the help we can get and creating job oportunities during the planting season is an important way of valuing people from the local community, the true guardians of both Forests and Water!

With our best forest Regards,

Gui, Fagner, Toni, Arielle, Luiz, Binka, Robin and all "Forest 4 Water" ReforesTeam

Links:

• Brazil Foundation's website
• Blog of our franciscans partners
• Iracambi's website

March has just begun, but here at Iracambi, we are already celebrating the successes of our reforestation program!

                In the past two months, we have been able to connect with 28 farming families interested in rehabilitating their springs through the process of reforestation. Of these, we have chosen to collaborate with 12 families based on the urgency of their land/water/situation. By the end of the month, we plan to establish partnerships with a total of 17 families located throughout eight rural communities and two municipalities of Serra do Brigadeiro. This more than doubles the reforestations we had in 2015. By 2017, we want to expand to reach out to all families willing to participate in our initiative.

                February’s non-stop rainfall came as a surprise to all of us. We worked hard to replant seedlings which survived the transition from the forest nursery and fended off hungry ants in the field. Within the month, we hosted two reforestation efforts and for the first time in 16 years, we made sure there were no spare seedlings left in Iracambi’s forest nursery.

                So, supporters – what does Iracambi want?

                First off, we must thank all of you whom have generously helped us reach our goals. We owe everything to the international donors who provide resources for our seedlings and gas in our tanks.

                Secondly, we would like to tell you that our project has been creating a much bigger impact than we expected. Reforestation is an important step – but it is only one of many that needs to be taken in order to ensure the people of Serra do Brigadeiro have access to clean water and have nature as a partner who brings both income and life quality. This demands simple items such as environmental friendly septic tanks and rainfall storage systems as well as more complex, structural changes towards organic farming, community planning and increased environmental education. The community connections and data collection made through the reforestation project have been essential in transitioning ideas from abstract possibilities to attainable goals, both for Iracambi and other agents of our community (schools, church, local authorities).  

                For all these reasons, our sincere thank you from all the people whose lives Forest4Water has somehow improved,

Gui, Toni, Fagner, Binka, Arielle

Dear Friends of Forest 4 Water,

We´ve finished 2015 having accomplished six reforestation efforts in our community. Reforestation took place on 5 properties owned by farming families as well as in a substance abuse rehabilitation center, planting more than 2 000 seedlings in total.

It is important to say that it was the first time an initiative like this happened in our area. For the first time an environmental organization not only donated native seedlings to the farmers, but also planned the reforestation efforts with them making sure the action was both good for farmers and the environment.

In our planting efforts, we made sure we involved all the international force present in Iracambi, and also the youth of our local community, such as students from the state school of Belisário as well as the Young Eco-Leaders group of Rosário da Limeira. This way, young people from all over the world showed local family farmers how important their land  is for the conservation of the environment, and that they are willing to work with them side by side  to recover and protect the Water and the Atlantic forest. Forests and water are not just goods that we share, but essential needs for a healthy and sustainable society, and we are all responsible for them.

The rainy season is almost over, and we have only one big reforestation of 500 seedlings to go. In the meanwhile we are contacting local family farmers and studying their land, so we can plan the reforestation efforts of the next rainy season. Things have worked pretty well for us, the community and our team are really excited with Forest 4 Water and we are sure we can double our reforestation capacity in 2016.

We owe all these great accomplishments to you, our dear friends and supporters, who believe in our initiative and help us keep up the good job. Our sincere, thank you, from the Forest 4 Water Team.

We wish you a happy and environmentally-friendly 2016!

Gui, Toni, Fagner and all Forest 4 Water Team

Links:

• Young Eco-Leaders GG webpage