Young EcoLeaders of the Brazilian Rainforest

Hello, family!

I’m George. I live in the emba-uba tree by the dining hall at Iracambi. Delighted to meet you!

And I gotta tell you a couple of things. First of all, I'm deeply grateful for your support over the years. You and I are making one hell of an impact. We're creating a cohort of young environmental champions who are already playing a leading role in protecting the rainforest. 

And that makes me happy. But - here's what keeps me awake at night.

I get the feeling that something is seriously wrong with the planet, and you and I need to do something about it. 

Here’s the problem. Down here, in my forest, we’ve recently had record-breaking heat. Drought. Wildfires. Heavy rain. The seasons are off balance, and I´m telling you, the forest is in real danger.  

I know you love rainforests, and you love the kids that are working to care for them. People need forests, and, right now, forests need people. 

So I’m asking for your help.  

Here at Iracambi, with your support, we're introducing hundreds of schoolchildren and young people to the rainforest. They absolutely love it, and believe me, the forest is going to need every last one of them.

And I, George, am going to need YOU.

Will you join us on December 3rd, Giving Tuesday, right here on the GlobalGiving platform, so that together we can grow the Iracambi Champions Fund? Unleashing the potential of hundreds and thousands of young people, ready and willing to heal and care for the planet.   

Save the date, and I’ll see you there! And please bring your friends and family.

Warm hugs from the forest, 

George, Binka, Carla and the Iracambi team 

PS I forgot something really important. All donations on Giving Tuesday receive bonus funding from GlobalGiving. 

More bang for your buck. How cool is that?

Hello everyone! We hope you are well! 

First of all we want to thank you for supporting our Young Ecoleaders Programme. Check out the video with our coordinator Daiana Duarte about this important work with the children. Do you remember that Giving Tuesday is coming up? It's on 3 December. We're counting on your help to continue our reforestation and environmental education work. Happy reading, and have a great week!

Finding out more about the Young Ecoleaders Programme

In the video, coordinator Daiana Duarte talks about the importance of environmental education. It involves six months of fortnightly theoretical and practical classes with students from the public school system in Rosário da Limeira, a city in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais. The topics are worked on according to the students' own experiences, the course is constructive and respects the children's traditional culture. They are monitored and evaluated throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, a big graduation party is held with the students, teachers and parents, bringing the whole community together.

Congratulations to all the coordinators, volunteers and workers who are also key players in making Iracambi a benchmark in the region and in Brazil for environmental education, research and reforestation. The project exists thanks to the donations of people who work together to change lives and regenerate the Atlantic Forest. 

Iracambi helps restore a 10,000 square metre agroforestry area

The rains have started and with them a lot of work in the ecological restoration areas of our Forests for Water project. Where there's a tree, there's water! Press play to learn about this work, coordinated by Luiz Gusmão, which covers an area of 10,000 square meters in the community of Graminha, in the municipality of Muriaé, in the Zona da Mata region of southeastern Minas Gerais. After two years of planting native species and many fruit trees, the site is already fulfilling some ecological functions in the restoration process, providing organic matter and attracting wildlife and pollinators.

Our team is working with resources from @brazilfound to consolidate this agroforestry. It is worth noting that the fertilizer (manure) used on the trees is purchased from the local community and is a way to help supplement the income of families in the rural area.

In 25 years of operation, Iracambi has planted 282,000 native trees and has a total of almost 9,000 hectares of environmental protection, the equivalent of 8,300 soccer fields. It's a lot of love for the forest and for our people.Iracambi is synonymous with preserving the Atlantic Forest, biodiversity and transforming lives.

Iracambi takes part in the COP16

The founders of our NGO,Binka Le Breton and Robin Le Breton took part inCOP16 Colombia, the UN Biodiversity Conference. With the theme “Peace with Nature”, the event gathered representatives from various sectors - governments, companies, the third sector, activists and civil society - to discuss the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources, seeking solutions to the planet's most critical challenges.

Binka and Robin took part in debates and had the opportunity to share a little about Iracambi's 25 years of experience in restoring the Atlantic Forest in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais, as well as our environmental education, research and volunteering projects. All the actions developed at Iracambi are at the heart of the fight against climate change and our role as agents of change to guarantee biodiversity and a sustainable future for our biome and the planet.

Links:

• Coordinator talks about the programme
• Take a look at the agroforestry