The Central Corridor of the Atlantic Forest, which in Portuguese is called Mata Atlântica, is recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, the world’s biologically richest and most threatened ecosystems. Today only about 12% of the area remains covered by native forest (CEPF, 2001).

The project described in this document constitutes the first stage of an overarching reforestation scheme aiming at the establishment of a corridor that will join two significant protected fragments of Atlantic Forest: the Pau Brasil National Park and the Monte Pascoal National Park.

The corridor will promote biodiversity by providing a connection path for species living in both National Parks and some other Atlantic Forest remnants in the region. The corridor will be created mostly within the Caraíva River Basin and a small area around the Frades River, a severely deforested vacuum in the middle of the two parks.

Development of a major road infrastructure and the uncontrolled growth of the timber industry in the region intensified environmental degradation in the 1960s and 1970s, and today only a few small fragments of forests can be found in the area.

The project activity proposed here will be executed by a network of institutions, each with a specific goal within the project. These institutions are The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Conservation International (CI), Instituto Bioatlântica, Instituto Cidade, Grupo Ambiental Naturezabela, Associação dos Nativos de Caraíva – ANAC (Association of Native People of Caraíva), Associação Comunitária Beneficente de Nova Caraíva – ASCBENC (Beneficent Community Association of Nova Caraíva) e Cooperativa de Reflorestadores de Mata Atlântica do Extremo Sul da Bahia – CooPlantar (Atlantic Forest Reforestation Cooperative of the Far South of Bahia). The main purpose of the project activity is to restore the environmental integrity of the area, specifically:

• To contribute to climate change mitigation by increasing carbon stocks through the growth of planted trees and the enhancement of natural regeneration;
• To provide valuable technical skills, work, and income to the local communities;
• To promote biodiversity through the creation of connected forest areas between Monte Pascoal and Pau Brasil National Parks;
• To increase the quality and stabilize the flow of the waters in the Caraíva River through the restoration and protection of springs and riparian zones;
• To reduce soil erosion.

To realize the objectives above, degraded areas will be restored through planting of native tree species and assisted natural regeneration through an unlimited number of CPAs within the Caraíva River Basin.

Local residents, landowners and the organizations involved in the implementation of the project hold a view that the proposed project activity will contribute to the affected communities (capacity building, income) and the environment (biodiversity promotion and watershed protection), thus contributing to sustainable development.

In the proposed project activity, the local landowner will yield use rights to the lands to be restored, and a local cooperative will carry out the restoration activities, including planting and  maintenance.

New work opportunities will be created by the project for local community members, who will be
paid for their labor inputs. These opportunities will include reforestation activities (seed collection, seedling production, planting, maintenance) conducted through the local cooperative Cooplantar, as monitoring activities (carbon, biodiversity, community). All socio-economic monitoring activities will be conducted by members of local community associations.