COEUR DE FORÊT

The Acre region of Brazil plays a key role in the world's biodiversity: it is home to 70% of all the known species of palm trees in the western Amazon. However, it is threatened by the development of roads and infrastructure, oil prospecting, extensive bovine ranching and fires, leading to a loss of biodiversity and the releasing of millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Since 2004, the native people of the region, The Kuntanawas, been fighting to gain recognition and demarcation of their land as well as to establish a new model of sustainable forest development. Since 2012, three community tree nurseries have been developed to produce young trees for the reforestation project and to provide organic fertilizers used to nourish the trees. The seeds are collected in the forest to respect the local ecosystem.