Brazil's luscious landscape has been ravaged by deforestation for over a half-century. And while President Silva has led efforts to end deforestation by 2030, the fight to meet this goal is far from over. Mongabay recently reported "weak laws on native seeds undermine Brazil reforestation efforts," as suggested in a study by Brazilian researchers.
What's happening?
Brazil suffers the most deforestation of any country, as reported by Global Forest Watch. The country's plan to combat deforestation, Planaveg 2.0, relies heavily on native seeds to meet their goal of reforesting 30 million acres over the next five years.
Brazil doesn't currently have laws and regulations that can sustainably support the native seed market and appease the reforestation goals. And while other countries have formal government processes and institutions to aid them in their own reforestation efforts, Brazil has a completely grassroots program. This translates to "poor legislation and lack of long-term support."
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Definitely 👍 Furthermore, Brazil has only 11 labs that are able to test seeds for quality control and reliability. Many of these issues are bottlenecks that could be better managed with clearer legislation, accessibility, and resources.
Aurelio Padovezi, a researcher at the University of Padova, explains that, "Without seeds, there is no restoration. It's that simple."
Why is Brazil's reforestation important?
It can't be overstated how important Brazil's ecosystem is to the planet as a whole — Brazil is home to about 60% of the Amazon Rainforest, also known as the "lungs of the planet" due to its vital role in Earth's oxygen and carbon dioxide cycles. Additionally, it accounts for 15-18% of the world's known species, making it a beacon of biodiversity.
The Amazon produces 20% of the world's oxygen and 16% of its freshwater. It has a critical part in regulating the world's climate and is one of the largest carbon sinks in the world, which means it "removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it emits." Yet all of this is threatened with the alarming rates of deforestation over the past decades.
The country's reforestation efforts are imperative to replenishing not only the Amazon and Brazil's green natural state, but the planet's health overall. And having ample native seed supply is a key piece to the puzzle in the Planaveg 2.0 initiative to restore the degraded land.
What's being done about reforestation?
Researchers and the Brazilian government are working together to come up with potential solutions.
Rodrigo Dutra-Silva, the lead author on the study, suggests that, "Brazil needs to build a legal structure to support seed collectors, including policy changes and reliable demand from government-backed projects."
Claudia Araujo, a forest engineer and socio-biodiversity coordinator, concurs with Dutra-Silva and notes, "The government creates some targeted projects, but accessing them is very difficult, especially considering our size. It should be less bureaucratic, with fewer barriers."
By studying how other countries are approaching similar issues and securing accessibility to these vital seeds, Brazil will mitigate bottlenecks and be on track to fostering a greener landscape and healthier world.
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