By Lucas Guaraldo
A productive restoration project in Pará supports family farmers in the recovery and environmental regularization of their properties, bringing together sustainable production, forest restoration and income generation in the countryside. Since last year, the initiative “Forest restoration in the Amazon: recovery of altered areas in the state of Pará”, carried out by IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), has been working with around 70 producers in 19 municipalities in the state of Pará and is recovering 750 hectares of degraded areas, previously occupied by pastures or irregular crops.
According to the Brazilian Forest Code, properties located in the Amazon must conserve 80% of the native vegetation in their areas. The deforestation of these Legal Reserves, often carried out to open pastures or due to ignorance of the legislation, makes these properties irregular from an environmental point of view, as well as compromising essential environmental services, such as the formation of rainfall, microclimate regulation and soil regeneration.
In addition to the environmental damage, areas of environmental liability on small properties, when deforested, prevent these producers from accessing credit and rural assistance programs. With the project, producers who were previously unassisted and unable to invest in their production now see environmental recovery and sustainable production as an opportunity to keep their properties profitable while protecting the region’s environmental services.
“For the recovery and environmental regularization of these areas, we use three techniques: natural regeneration, enrichment of capoeira and the implementation of agroforestry systems, according to the needs of each property. These regularized properties allow the producer to access public policies, while the production systems make it possible to produce food and sell products with greater added value, generating income and stability for the families,” explains Edivan Carvalho, researcher and coordinator of IPAM in Pará.
The initiative is part of the “Regularize Rural” project, coordinated by the SFB (Brazilian Forestry Service) and IICA Brazil (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture), in partnership with SEMAS/PA (State Secretariat for the Environment, Climate and Sustainability) and with financial support from KfW (German Development Bank), which is also taking part in monitoring visits and following up on the implementation of SAFs (agroforestry systems). Seedlings and other inputs for the cultivation of these systems were delivered, as well as technical visits to inspect the planting and help producers adopt more sustainable and modern cultivation techniques.
Following the Forest Code
According to data from the Forest Code Thermometer, Pará has 17 million hectares of Legal Reserve liabilities. Productive restoration experiments, which combine the recovery of areas with forest and fruit species, such as cacao and açaí, have shown positive results in controlling deforestation and generating income in rural Amazonian communities.
Based on the Brazilian Forest Code and decrees enacted by the state government, producers who have Legal Reserve liability areas can restore them with systems that use cocoa in their composition. These systems combine forest and productive species to create resilient, productive landscapes adapted to the reality of the Amazon.
“This area will help a lot with our income and the regularization of our land. We’re expecting to harvest tons of açaí and cocoa, as well as other fruits and forest essences that will grow here. It will also be very important for my family because, in 10 or 20 years’ time, my children will still be able to work this area in the right way and understand that it is possible to produce consciously,” says Jailson Marques Reis, a producer from Tomé-Açu who received more than 7,000 seedlings through the project.
Changes in the climate
During the technical visits to the producers, the project’s researchers and technicians also heard reports of concern about the arrival of the drought period, which is becoming increasingly intense, long-lasting and unpredictable. With the prospect of a super El Niño predicted for the second half of 2026, farmers were advised on ways to minimize the impacts of drought and on the need for adequate irrigation. During the last El Niño, between 2023 and 2024, a historic drought damaged conservation in the region and triggered a record season of wildfires, mainly affecting areas of native vegetation and pastures.
“In recent years, the climate has changed a lot. In the summer, the sun is very strong, the temperatures are higher and this means that we need to increase the amount of water for the plants. We’re using mulch and the cocoa consortium, which leaves a lot of leaves on the ground and protects the soil. This way, during the summer, we can keep the soil moist for longer,” explains Jailson.
With the warming of the oceans caused by the climate crisis, El Niño tends to become more frequent. Whereas before the episodes happened on average every five years, the super El Niño of 2026 is expected to occur less than three years after the last event. In the Amazon, the phenomenon results in a weaker than average rainy season and more severe droughts. With the succession of less humid periods, the vegetation becomes more susceptible to fire. In this context, the proper preparation of crops and agroforestry systems, as well as suspending the use of fire and other practices adopted by the project, are fundamental to minimizing the effects of El Niño on small producers.
Women in the spotlight
Among the project’s participants, female representation also stands out. The project also stands out for its strong presence of women, who account for more than 30% of those benefiting from the initiative. Ginelda Lima, from Tomé-Açu (PA), says that her participation in the project was fundamental in increasing her autonomy as a woman in the countryside.
“I’m the daughter of farmers and I was born a farmer. This is a girl’s dream, and for it to grow we need to walk together, like a plant that needs to be fertilized. Here there will be 2,500 plants such as açaí, cacao, cumaru, acapu and piquiá, and they will be my retirement,” she celebrates.
“Our minds change a lot. We learn how to really plant. I already had some seedlings, but it was the project that gave me the final push. At first, the people who live with me thought it was just talk, that it wouldn’t be worth it, but now we all have a different view and we realize that it is possible to produce by recovering the area and without deforestation. Now people come to ask me how to get started and how to organize themselves to carry out the restoration,” she said at the time.