Dedicate A Tree: Brazil Conservation Project

Project Title :	Sons da Floresta ( Sounds of the Forest) and the Projeto Pau Brasil
Location:	Cairu, Bahia, Brazil, South America
Project Aims:	To establish community based conservation of the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest focusing on tree species used to make musical instruments

Dedicate A Tree in Brazil now!

Fifty times smaller than the Amazon yet with 20,000 plant species of which 40% are found no where else on the planet, the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest (aka Mata Atlantic) is a Brazilian biological treasure trove. Yet it is precisely this wealth in natural resources and breathtaking landscapes that has caused its dramatic depletion. The region, which once stretched for thousands of miles across Brazil 's eastern coast, has had its original cover severely reduced by 95% in just 500 years. Now 171 of Brazils 202 endangered species are clinging on to existence in the remaining patchy fragments; i f depletion persists at the current rate the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest will disappear completely in less than 50 years.

Pau brasil ( Caesalpinia echinata ), the national tree of Brazil , is a globally endangered species confined to the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. Pau brasil is of great historical and cultural importance. It represents one of the first economic resources used by the Portuguese during colonization when its importance as a source of red dye was recognised. Huge quantities of wood were exported between 1501 and 1850, especially to Europe , which contributed to the wholesale loss of forest areas. In 1850, synthetic dyes (such as aniline) were developed, but from the mid nineteenth century to the present, pau brasil wood has continued to attract economic interest as the only wood suitable for the manufacture of violin bows.

Photography - R.K. Schaepfer

Conservation Education

Since 2000 FFI has been working with Brazilian partner Amainan Brasil through its SoundWood programme on the Projeto Pau Brasil ; an environmental education initiative that focuses on tackling the problem of habitat loss in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest by highlighting the historical and cultural significance of Pau brasil. Amainan have delivered the education programme to communities across the region; from the very south in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo state to the archipelago of Cairu, Bahia in the North. With funding from the FCO in 2003 the Projeto Pau Brasil expanded its sphere of activity to include a community based forest restoration programme and teacher training scheme in Cairu, it also launched Sons da Floresta Brazil 's first initiative introducing timber certification issues to the country's musical instrument manufacturing industry.

Forest Restoration in Cairu

As part of the Projeto Pau brasil the community of Cairu have built a tree nursery with space for growing10,000 seedlings. Seeds have been gathered from four threatened native species for planting on nearby farm land, these are Pau brasil Caesalpinia echinata, Jacaranda Dalbergia nigra , Biriba Eschweilera ovata , and Jataipeba Bwodriguesia santosii. . The restoration of farm land to native forest will benefit local farmers for whom the native forests are vital; without them their principal produce, (the fibres of the native piaçava palm used for brooms and mechanised road sweepers) yield an inferior crop as plantation growing does not offer the shade or quality of soil found in native forest habitats. Amainan are working in consultation with the University of Bahia to ensure that their approach is ecologically sound, and with three local youth groups who have been recruited to manage the nursery and carry out the planting programme, this way providing an incentive for young people to avoid migration to cities and instead remain actively involved within their communities and local environment. Your donation will contribute to the sourcing and planting and long term care of new seedlings, and will help provide an income for local communities that will ensure the long term sustainability of the project.

SoundWood, a conservation programme of Fauna & Flora International (FFI), aims to tackle the urgent problem of declining stocks of timber trees valued by the music industry. It is dedicated to finding practical solutions. SoundWood wants to see these timber trees used in sustainable ways. It wants to see people who depend on the forests benefit from the valuable timber they contain, and it wants musicians and music lovers to be able to continue to enjoy beautiful instruments. We all have to work together to make this possible and ensure these species are not lost forever.

Click here to dedicate a tree in Brazil. By dedicating a tree as a unique gift idea, you are helping support vital conservation projects made possible by Tree2mydoor's partnership with The Global Trees Campaign named 'Tree2reforest'. You can find out more about the great work carried out by The Global Trees Campaign by clicking here www.globaltrees.org