Kew's projects in Brazil

Kew's work in Brazil is helping to identify the diversity of plant life in the region and help communities use native plants sustainably.

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Plant hunting in Brazil

Kew is involved in many projects in Brazil identifying and recording the range of plant life to improve our understanding of the region's habitats and flora.

Our Compositae of Brazil project has helped to improve understanding of the diversity of this important plant group, which includes daisies and sunflowers. The information and data gathered is used to evaluate plant species at risk and the range of plant life in the region. Kew's Cacti (Cactaceae) of Eastern Brazil offers a guide to the discovery, identification and conservation of these plants.

We also make recommendations for the conservation of plant species at risk to help protect areas and plant species under threat.

Discover more about our work in South America.

Trees for fuel in Northeast Brazil

Our fuelwood project in Northeast Brazil is helping local communities improve their use of dry forest trees for fuel, by making production more sustainable.

The focus of our research is to find the most appropriate tree species and harvesting techniques for providing sustainable returns of wood, suitable for fuel and charcoal production.

Working together with local communities, Kew is leading a series of hands-on research and field studies. Some interesting results are already emerging. For example, Mimosa trees cut in the wet season do not survive as well as those cut in the dry season, whereas Caesalpinia and Croton trees can be cut in either season. These findings have implications for scheduling felling and determining how land can be best managed to grow trees for fuel.

Wood samples from all tree species were sent to Kew's Jodrell Laboratory for anatomical studies to support field research.