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Organization	WeForest
Region	Brazil
Website	Website
Facebook	Facebook
Twitter	@Twitter
ProjectLeader	Louise Tideman

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The Atlantic forest is one of the most biodiverse spots in the world yet deforestation has caused it to lose 80% of its original forest cover, and with it the loss of many native species. WeForest, with partners IPE and AES Brasil, is reversing deforestation & biodiversity loss. Trees are planted and grown to create forest corridors and protect the Tiete river watershed, allowing species to find new habitats and populations. These trees will sequester large amounts of CO2 helping climate change

Challenge

Brazil's Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot which is far more depleted than the Amazon Rainforest. This forest once stretched over 130 million hectares along Brazil's southeastern coast. Intense deforestation began 500 years ago and since then over 85% of the forest has disappeared. The areas that remain are heavily fragmented which leads to slow degradation of soils, landscapes and biodiversity loss and prevents wildlife from moving between patches increasing their risk of extinction.

Long-Term Impact

The impact of growing 1 million trees for this project: 500 ha put into restoration 158,500 tons of CO2 sequestered over a 30 year period, 240 employed full time in project implementation for 50 months, 400 people trained in plant propagation, 2,000 ha of land benefiting from improved water quality, $2,500 income per year generated by each family-run tree nursery, 10 functional community plant nurseries generated, 115 indigenous tree species grown, 200 species' habitat range increased.