Forests4Water Brazil: Community Climate Action

Dear donors and partners,

We hope you are well, and for those of you currently experiencing heat waves, we send cooling breezes from the forest.

As we continue our work of seed collection, nursery expansion and caring for the crop of seedlings that we are readying for the planting season in October/November, parts of the world are suffering from record heatwaves. The Pacific Northwest of the US has been experiencing temperatures 20C higher than normal. Pavement is buckling, trolley car cables are melting, wildfires are breaking out, snows are melting. Temperatures this week hit record highs across Europe and even into the Arctic Circle.

The climate won't wait! Which is why we are redoubling our efforts to scale up our planting. Do more and better. Hire a new forestry coordinator. Keep spreading the word through our education courses.

Planting trees by itself won't solve the climate crisis. Global citizens need to come together to curb emissions, modify our consumption and spending habits, and start the great clean up– employing nature based solutions while there is still time.

Nature based solutions. What are they and how do they affect the climate?

Sustainably managing and restoring damaged ecosystems. So, whether its food security, climate change, water security, human health, disaster risk or economic development, nature can help us find a way.

The most cost-effective, most efficient, most scalable way of cleaning up carbon from our atmosphere is through planting trees. And growing numbers of people across the world are getting the message. 

Here at Iracambi, and thanks to your amazing support, we´re on the case. And as you can see, we've spent the past couple of weeks on intensive seed collection in the forest. As you know, this is only the beginning of the tree journey - collecting, identifying, sorting, cleaning and then germinating and planting. 

A nature-based solution. And we´re doing it together. Thank you! 

 with love from Alfredo, Deivid, Averaldo and the Iracambi Tree Planters. 

Dear donors, 

This week we want to introduce you to one of our local farmers Fagner – who is setting up an on-farm tree nursery under our Forests4Water program.

Fagner is one of the Iracambi family. His mother Carminha used to be the Iracambi Center cook until (with Iracambi encouragement, and with some trepidation on her part,) she branched out and opened her own restaurant. Today she runs a catering business, and even in the midst of covid, she supplies quality food to people in the neighborhood - anything from take out lunches to celebration birthday cakes and outdoor barbecues.  And, equally importantly, she models success to women in the local community.

Fagner is one of Carminha´s sons, and for a time he was in charge of the Iracambi forest nursery. But he really wanted to emulate his mother and set up his own business. So after working with Iracambi’s experimental coffee plot and learning techniques of producing quality coffee, he set up his own business and, as you can see, he made a go of it!

And now he's expanding his business to supply tree seedlings for reforestation, and this week our team worked with him to set up his tree nursery. And that was all in the family too – our Field Coordinator Alfredo is married to Fagner’s sister Thais.

That´s community engagement for you! Success breeds success, and as the word spreads, there´s increasing interest among some of the local farmers in incorporating a small tree nursery into the farm economy. And nursery manager Deivid has a waiting list of famers wanting us to help reforest on their properties.

Between us we really are saving forests and changing lives. Thank you for being such a valued part of it!

with love from Alfredo and the Iracambi team 

PS This week we'll start interviewing for our new Forestry Coordinator. Stay tuned!