The pilot project uses the transplantation of seedlings due to a shortage in production of native seeds, necessary to restore forests around the Cuiabá River, Pantanal, that have recently been degraded by fires in the region.
The actions are taking place in the Sesc Baía das Pedras Park – Sesc Pantanal, carried out by a team of researchers from the CPP/INAU and UFMT, together with the SESC support team, within a project which is supported by the GEF Terrestrial.
The researcher from the CPP and INAU, Dr. Cátia Nunes da Cunha highlights that the collecting and transplanting of native seedlings requires acclimatisation in nurseries first, so that they can finally be used in the restoration of floodable forests.
“Around 300 seedlings have been transplanted at this stage of the field work. This pilot will constitute a protocol for the communities of Capão do Angico, in Poconé (MT) and São Pedro de Joselândia, in Barão de Melgaço (MT) so that they can provide seedlings for restoration projects in the region,” she explains.
The researcher also adds that most of these seedlings will be planted in riparian forest restoration areas, which were affected by the latest fires in the region, an activity that is included in the ‘Aquarela’ Project – Recovery of Riparian Pantaneira Forests: benefiting water, soil, fish and surrounding populations of the RPPN Sesc Pantanal.
About RPPN Sesc Pantanal – Mupan RPPN Sesc
The insertion of the project ‘Recovery of Pantanal Riparian Forests: benefiting water, soil, fish and populations around the RPPN Sesc Pantanal – Mupan RPPN Sesc’ is the result of a collective effort by the institutions executing the project and proposes an arrangement that will contribute with the elaboration and implementation of the Ramsar Sesc Pantanal Site Management Plan and interactions with the surroundings.
Aiming to implement management tools and social technologies to fight against the climate change scenario in Pantanal and the prevention of fires in the region, the project ‘Recovery of Pantanal Riverside Forests: benefiting water, soil, fish and populations around the RPPN Sesc Pantanal – Mupan RPPN Sesc’ is in its tenth month of execution. The project is a pilot project and it will serve as a model for the implementation of new works for the Recovery of Degraded Areas (RAD) in Pantanal.
Within the 56 hectares covered, 46 are situated on the premises of the RPPN Sesc Pantanal, and the other 10 hectares are situated around the reserve and they will serve as a model for implementation of new RAD works, considering the specificity of the wetlands.
The initiative for this project takes place through an institutional arrangement between Women in Action in the Pantanal (Mupan), Wetlands International Brazil, Pantanal Research Center (CPP), National Institute of Science and Technology of Wetlands (INAU) and Sesc Pantanal, It is financed by the Global Environment Fund (GEF), through the Conservation, Recovery and Management Strategies for the Biodiversity of the Caatinga, Pampa and Pantanal Project (GEF Terrestre), and it is coordinated by the Ministry of the Environment (MMA). It has the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as the implementing agency and FUNBIO as the executing agency.