Marajó Project

Brazil

Situated in the Northern Brazilian state of Para, on the island of Marajó, the project preserves nearly 90,000 hectares of biodiverse Amazon forest.

Project

summary

Commercial wood extraction has been banned in Marajó, which was previously a major cause of deforestation, and the project supports alternative sources of income for local communities.

There are over 100 families living in the project area whose livelihoods strongly depend on the natural resources of the Amazon. The sale of carbon credits means that training in sustainable food production and alternative income generation is helping to prevent deforestation and aiding sustainable development in the region.

Certified

Under

Aligning with the

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

The project helps to provide local communities with the means to develop more sustainable industries, providing them more empowerment to preserve their own environment and stimulate economic growth.

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change

By creating a significant reduction in deforestation, the project is preserving vital carbon sinks and reducing significant quantities of carbon emissions would contribute to climate change.

SDG 15: Protest, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.

The forests being preserved in the Amazon constitute precious biodiverse habitats. Beyond this, they are a part of Brazil’s great forest cover which is a vital ecosystem that plays an important role in the global eco-system but which is threatened by some of the highest levels of deforestation in the world.

The result

90,000 hectares of Amazon forest conserved.
Between 2013- 2017, 4,178 ha of deforestation was avoided and over 2.5 million tCO₂ emissions reduced.
School buildings, aviaries, apiaries and fish farming tanks have been constructed in the local communities.
Training courses in seed and sustainable acai (local endemic fruit) production is provided to local communities to promote sustainable forest management.
A tree nursery has been constructed to recover degraded land and to provide communities with seeds for sale.
Bursaries are provided for local to students to work at the tree nursery.
Social research has been undertaken in the area to better understand the social reality of the resident riverside communities.