• Home
• Science Strategy
• Science Teams
• Projects
  • Vegetation Management for Conservation in Brazil
• People
• Publications
• Acronyms

Vegetation Management for Conservation in Brazil

Forest survey on the Morraria de Santa Cruz

This project is working to build capacity for in situ conservation in Brazil, with a particular focus on the provision of technical support for private landowners. The project was launched in 2004 and will run for five years. The objective is to apply Kew’s botanical expertise through applied, collaborative research and capacity building in order to facilitate the establishment of new conservation areas and projects, and to develop the capacity of landowners to administer and manage them.

In February 2005 a team of botanists from the Herbarium, working in collaboration with scientists and students from the University of Mato Grosso do Sul, EMBRAPA (Brazil’s agricultural research organisation) and the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, coordinated the first detailed botanical survey and vegetation mapping of the Morraria de Santa Cruz. This ironstone mountain, rising from the edge of the internationally important Pantanal wetlands, supports a complex mixture of habitats including cliff vegetation, grassland, tree savanna (cerrado) and semi-deciduous forest. 

The iron ore mine on the mountain’s summit, managed by a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, is due to expand substantially over the next few years. The survey was designed to provide essential baseline information and management recommendations for the vegetation of the area, including data on rare species and sensitive habitats, in order to guide the development processes. Vegetation was surveyed using a combination of remote sensing (satellite imagery), ground-truthing, and quantitative survey techniques, whilst training was provided for the local students. Kew is now working with its Brazilian and British partners to implement management recommendations aimed principally at reducing the environmental impact of expansion and facilitating the restoration of degraded areas. This includes the provision of advice on potential biodiversity offsets for mine expansion.

In 2006 the project expanded to northern Mato Grosso, on the southern edge of the Amazon, where Kew is supporting a locally based NGO (Cristalino Ecological Foundation) in the development of a management plan for a new private reserve. This is an area of substantial conservation importance, situated on the margin of Amazonia’s southern ‘arc of deforestation’.  Project activities, undertaken in partnership with Fauna and Flora International, include training and capacity building, vegetation mapping and the development of resources for the Foundation’s environmental education programme. The work will also contribute towards the finalisation of a management plan for the adjacent Cristalino State Park.

A third potential area of operation has been identified in the state of Minas Gerais, where discussions are being held with a private landowner over potential support for the establishment of a private nature reserve in an area of cerrado and campo rupestre vegetation in the Serra de Espinhaço.

Kew Home | Science Directory | Copyright & Privacy