News
Municipalities discuss Atlantic Forest conservation in Bahia
Participative Workshop will design an Education and Communication Plan around the Veracel project
Porto Seguro, February 14, 2006 – Representatives of organized civil society and government from 10 Bahia municipalities met Feb. 15-16 in Porto Seguro to discuss a strategy for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest remnants in Veracel Celulose’s area of influence. Among the important remnants is the 6,000-hectares RPPN Veracel Station, located between Porto Seguro and Santa Cruz Cabrália (BA), owned by the company, which constitutes the largest private reserve of this biome and was one of the focal points of the Participative Planning Workshop held at the Hotel Porto Calem in Porto Seguro.
Because of its special features, the Veracel Station is considered to be of fundamental importance for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most threatened and richest biomes on the planet, and of which only 7% of its initial area remains. It maintains 80% of its area of primary forest untouched, which serves as a habitat for endemic flora and fauna species that only occur in that location and are threatened with extinction or vulnerable, such as the Harpy Eagle, Minute Hermit hummingbird, Robust tufted capuchin monkey and Red-tailed Parrot. Another distinguishing characteristic of the station is the presence of Amazon Forest species, reinforcing the hypothesis of a relationship between the two biomes.
The initiative is part of a partnership arrangement between the non-governmental organization Conservação Internacional (CI-Brasil) and Veracel Celulose, with the support of the BioAtlântica Institute. The objective is to strengthen the Atlantic Forest Central Corridor in the region through usage planning and regional landscape management in a sustainable and participative manner, including other public and private conservation units.
CI-Brasil’s manage for social affairs, Viviane Junqueira, points out that the region receives many tourists and could be a gateway for the population to obtain information about the Atlantic Forest the contribute to its conservation. Currently, the Veracel Station, which has been designated a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO, receives 2,000 visitors per year. The workshop will gather some 50 professionals from the region, including journalists, religious and community leaders, environmentalists, representatives of municipal and state government agencies, private businessmen and others. “Together, we will think about the existing environmental problems and the educational and communication projects that could contribute to minimizing them,” said Junqueira
“We are in an area that is critical to conservation and we have the opportunity to develop a participative project that can generate effective results,” said Veracel’s environmental manager, Zeila Piotto, observing that a joint effort is necessary to overcome the challenge of operating in such a large difficult area — not only terms of information, but also the socio-economic and environmental order.
The workshop is part of a wider CI-Brasil Communication and Environmental Education Program and the CI-Brasil and Veracel project, which includes a review of the RPPN’s management plan, the establishment of a Conservation Research Program and integration of other socio-economic projects for the region.