BTG Pactual TIG and Conservation International Advance Cerrado Restoration

On Thursday, BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (BTG Pactual TIG) and Conservation International announced that native ecosystem restoration is underway across more than 20,000 hectares (49,421 acres) of Brazil’s Cerrado biome.

According to data recorded by the Brazilian Restoration and Reforestation Observatory, an independent platform that tracks and maps native vegetation recovery, the work further establishes the strategy as the largest restoration effort in the region. Conservation International serves as Impact Adviser for the strategy’s social and environmental outcomes.

The strategy focuses on conserving, restoring, and reforesting degraded landscapes across Latin America, including degraded cattle pasture in the Cerrado. The approximately 20,000 hectares now under restoration are expected to create more than 80,000 hectares (197,684 acres) of connected habitat, supporting landscape function and wildlife movement.

BTG Pactual TIG and Conservation International are also working with the Forest Restoration Laboratory at the Federal University of Viçosa on an 81-hectare field trial comparing direct seeding, native seedling planting, and natural regeneration. The project is intended to identify effective and scalable restoration approaches for the Cerrado.

To date, nearly 29 million trees have been planted across more than 64,000 acres in Brazil, more than 1,000 plant and animal species have been documented across the portfolio, and more than 400 miles of stream corridors are under enhanced protection. At full deployment, the strategy is expected to support approximately 2,700 direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs.