The essential role of seed collectors in Brazil's ecological restoration

Achieving the goal of restoring 12 million hectares of native Brazilian vegetation by 2030, as established by the Paris climate agreement, will not be an easy task, especially in the absence of a solid government program that goes in this direction .However it is thanks to the precious work of seed collectors, who discovered that planting them instead of saplings makes the reforestation process more efficient and solid, that the hope of reaching the goal is still alive.

A technique that the natives have proven to be the most suitable for help young trees survive drought and make the most of the space available:sowing allows you to plant approximately ten times more trees per hectare compared to the use of seedlings, halving the costs.The efforts of seed collectors are focusing above all on Cerrado area, a territory of savannahs and forests that covers more than 20% of Brazil and a small part of Paraguay and Bolivia and which houses species of flora and fauna that cannot be found elsewhere.

It is evident, especially in this case, how much the conservation of seeds can make the difference in a process of repopulation and restoration of lands.Intentions that pushed dozens of indigenous tribes, who they live in the Xingu reserve, to found the Xingu Seed Network, a network born in the early 2000s with the aim of restore vegetation around rivers and springs, polluted by deforestation and from farms and agriculture on the border with the reserve.The loss of vegetation and land degradation are in fact the greatest threats not only to the land itself, but also to the indigenous people who inhabit it.Between 2000 and 2015 the Amazon biome he lost more than 20 million hectares of land and the Cerrado more than 23 million.Numbers that have made the development of a large-scale reforestation plan urgent and necessary, which has therefore caused the demand for seeds of native trees capable of restore ecosystems to their natural state.

To date, the network, started in the early 2000s by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) - an NGO - in collaboration with the indigenous leaders of the Xingu, it has almost 600 collectors and a collection of more than 200 seeds from different native trees.In addition to collecting and processing all requests, his most important task is training:the group in fact educates those who are part of it – and they are not just indigenous – on the best harvesting practices, on the pre-treatment of the seed, which often needs to be dried, and on how to identify and conserve it.Since its foundation – and until 2022 – the Xingu Seed Network collected 294 tons of seeds, contributing to the restoration of 7,400 hectares of land.A result brought home thanks to the collaboration with other seeding networks scattered throughout Brazil, capable of guaranteeing each ecosystem the most specific and suitable seed and, above all, essential for satisfy the enormous demand.This comes mainly from private companies, which by law, if they destroy forests, are required to replant an equivalent area of ​​trees elsewhere, and from farmers.In fact, agriculture is one of the major causes of the deforestation that hit Brazil in 2022.

However, restoring forested areas is not always easy.In fact, care, dedication and knowledge are not enough to repopulate a forest if, on the other hand, obstacles and threats are always around the corner.In fact, there are many categories that have an interest in ensuring that the lands remain bare and/or exploitable:this is the case, for example, of illegal miners and supporters of intensive agriculture, as well as large multinationals.

But the indigenous struggle is moving on multiple fronts, and stopping it will not be easy at all.The  communities are in fact also carrying out programs focused on sustainable production of food resources originating in the territory.By contributing thus:on the one hand to protect one of the regions richest in biodiversity and cultures in the world, respecting the natural times of its lands;on the other, to the economic sustenance of the tribes themselves.Specifically, indigenous groups - including those of the Terena, Kayapó and Kuikuro - are specializing in the production of honey, toasted baru nuts and babaçu palm oil, products then sold to the rest of the country but generated through respectful and natural - and which above all bring profits to those who have always taken care of those lands.

[by Gloria Ferrari]