Who is Instituto Espinhaço? 🌳

Instituto Espinhaço – Biodiversity, Culture and Socio-environmental Development – ​​is a non-profit civil association, operating in the areas of biodiversity, culture and socio-environmental development, articulating innovative practices at the local level, with international scope. Created based on the process of social mobilization that resulted in the Unesco seal for Serra do Espinhaço as a Biosphere Reserve.

quote from their website

Instituto Espinhaço maintains 10 different projects in southeast Brazil. Each project nurses trees until they are ready to plant in the ground. 🌱Once a tree is mature enough to plant, Instituto Espinhaço plants it in places it's needed most.

Whether that's reforesting parts of the Amazon razed by agriculture or along rivers in the mountains to prevent erosion and purify water 💧, the Instituto ensures their growth, survival, and impact.

They then monitor the trees for three years after planting to ensure they will live, thrive, and provide the most impact to the region. 🙌

Project Highlight: SCFÁ

‍Sowing forests, harvesting waters in the Epinhaço mountain range

The three goals of SFCÁ

I – contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, including ecosystems, species and varieties of fauna and flora, as well as the landscapes in its area of ​​coverage;

II – promote sustainable economic development from a sociocultural and ecological point of view, through environmental education programs aimed at the conservation of biodiversity and integrated and sustainable agroecological production systems;

III – create logistical conditions for carrying out demonstration projects in the Serra do Espinhaço region – Minas Gerais, for the production and dissemination of knowledge and for environmental education and for scientific research and monitoring in the fields of conservation and sustainable development.

quote from their website

Following these goals, SCFÁ has overseen the recovery of 2,500 hectares of native forests, engaging nearly 2,000 rural properties in over 100 municipalities. With their hard work, they are continually "cooperating with the necessary search for the systemic balance of a region, as well as of a country and the planet." 🌲🌎

For a look into Instituto Espinhaço, check out our Instagram Stories highlight "Tree planting" to go along with Grant (Treecard's community manager) on his visit there!