Forests4Water Brazil: Community Climate Action

Dear nature-loving friends,

In our last report, we told you a little more about the changes that have been happening inside Iracambi, and how we’ve been using black raffia in our nursery to protect the roots of our baby seedlings. 

This change allowed us to reorganize the space in the nursery, creating more space for the ever increasing numbers of seedlings..

And as for that, we have important news to communicate!

These days we have 36 species of plants growing in our nursery. Our dear nursery coordinator, Fran, plays a very important role in the nursery: not only does she take care of the baby trees, she also has been looking after them ever since they were just seeds.

And that's why she's been studying more and more about the different species we grow, and about what other species originate from the Atlantic Forest (and even more importantly, are specific to the region).

Along with team members and volunteers, Fran has collected lots of seeds, and done several experiments to understand which is the best way to plant a seed, how long it takes to break its dormancy, what is the best way to break that dormancy - should we break them open, soak them in water, plant them directly? And if so, is it better in sand? Using substrate?  

And since we are scientists we’re learning more and more each day, as you can see…

So, stick with us to learn more later.

With lots of rainforest love and appreciation.

Fran and the Iracambi Team.

Dear Nature Lovers,

 How are you these days?!

Do you remember when we said that our campus was being transformed and that there were a lot of  changes underway? 

One of them is using black raffia on the soil, where it acts as if it were a "blanket" protecting it against UV rays, even while it allows water to pass through. It's all about protecting the roots of the seedlings - as you can see below.

Soil raffia is also an excellent solution for controlling weeds that, in addition to appearing unwantedly in our seed beds, can also be a shelter for insects. They lay their eggs at night, the babies hatch out in the morning and feed on our little plants!

In addition, these weeds can also be harmful while the seedlings are growing, since they also compete with them for soil nutrients, so it is extremely important to reduce the possibility of these weeds appearing!

In open environments (like ours), raffia also helps to prevent erosion, stabilizing the soil, which makes it easier to produce the seedlings. Through reducing the incidence of pests and diseases, it promotes  the healthy growth of the seedlings. 

Some changes take time, but eventually they turn out to be amazing!

Thank you for being with us  on this journey!

With lots of appreciation.

The Iracambi Team.

Dear friend,

We hope you’re doing well, staying safe, and carrying on during these times.

Here in Iracambi, we’ve been working hard to do the maintenance of our facilities and our nursery is being improved, so our seedlings can have a proper place for them to grow stronger every day, becoming beautiful trees!

And for that, YOU can play an integral part in moving our projects forward:

We’re reaching out to you as one of our top supporters to let you in on a special opportunity from our partner, GlobalGiving, to get donations of $100 USD and up matched on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, starting at 9 a.m. ET. The higher the amount, the higher the match while funds last.

In the spirit of this matching campaign, we’re making big, bold asks of our long-time supporters – and that’s you! 

We already know that your past support has helped us accomplish our goals and we thank you so much for that! You’re a superhero and as long as there are individuals like you, we can hope for a better future!

Can we count on you to support our work with a one-time gift of up to $1,000 on Wednesday, July 20?

With lots of rainforest love,

The Iracambi team.

Dear Friends, 

We’ve been dying to tell you the good news from Iracambi, and some of our adventures in the forestry program. 

I don’t know if you remember but a while ago, we told you that we participated in several courses on how to upgrade our forest nursery.  And we also want to tell you that we hosted a team from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), along with their professor. They were super helpful and showed us how to improve our water collection system and the irrigation system as well.

And in the meantime, work continues on improving the property!  

Deocar is our resident specialist on building, and making things more welcoming and functional, and he’s been busy, building signs, fences, desks and anything and everything made out of wood.

He also set up a system of ground cover, made out of raffia. It's used in agriculture and acts as a barrier against insects, pests and weeds, while allowing water, air and nutrients to reach the roots of the plants and stabilize the soil.

This improves the health of the seedlings that are just waiting for the planting season to be planted.

So, stay tuned for our next report, because for sure we’ll have interesting news to share! 

with warm rainforest hugs and thanks for youur support. We couldn’t do it without you! 

Luiz, Alfredo, Fran, Deocar and the Forestry team 

Hello there fellow environmentalist friends!

We already introduced you to Deivid before, one of our staff members here at Iracambi, who is now doing a small trip around Europe, in order to learn english and visit some of the friends that he made during the years he had been collaborating with us!

And he had the opportunity to participate in one exchange week program in a NGOs funded n Greece, the Terra Sylvestris, an organization dedicated to protecting the environment and sustainable development! And did you know that this organization has something to do with Iracambi? 

His founder came to Brazil before and participated in this one particular exchange where he learned more about what we call "the third sector", the sector in which NGOs are present and his desire to also build a organization that ensured and endured the future of the green lands of Greece, were a poweful combination to make his dreams come true (and that's how Terra Sylvestris was created).

Deivid is also moving to other countries. Stay tuned to our social networks to see more about it!

PS: We would like to thanks for the warm welcome and having the chance to be among people who understand and fight for the same cause we fight! We can change the world together!