Atlantic Forest Restoration and Nature Production in Paraná Coast, Brazil

Brazil Conservation, Restoration, Climate & Biodiversity

The Atlantic Forest is one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots. Less than 12% of its original cover remains, yet it still provides clean water, stores vast amounts of carbon, and shelters thousands of unique species found nowhere else on Earth.

In southern Brazil, SPVS is restoring one of the largest remaining continuous stretches of this forest - not only by planting trees, but by creating a future where conservation generates livelihoods, protects wildlife, and strengthens local communities.

Every hectare we restore reconnects fragmented habitats, captures carbon, protects rivers, and creates safe conditions for endangered wildlife to recover. Restoration also creates long-term employment for local residents, who become trained conservation professionals responsible for protecting the forest they call home. 

• 40+ years of conservation

• 19,000 hectares protected

• 7,500 Red-tailed Amazon parrots recovered

• Thousands of students engaged every year

• Hundreds of formal green jobs created 

Project Story

SPVS stands as a pioneer in large-scale tropical conservation, driving a holistic model that transforms how human communities interact with threatened ecosystems in Brazil. For over four decades, we have proved that the survival of the Atlantic Forest depends on empowering the people who live within it. Money raised in this campaign will go directly toward scaling our ecological restoration inside our 19,000 hectares of private Nature Reserves—reversing decades of degradation, boosting critical biodiversity, and securing massive forest carbon sinks. By funding this initiative, you are directly supporting a unique regional economic transition, where local families move away from extractive practices to become formally employed, proud professional guardians of their own natural heritage.

Our Mission

SPVS believes in the power of transforming how society values natural ecosystems. Our mission is to demonstrate that protecting biodiversity is a viable economic driver through the concept of "Production of Nature." We are deeply experienced in restoring degraded landscapes and protecting endangered wildlife, and this project expands our reach by scale. Our goal is to accelerate the natural regeneration and active reforestation of degraded pastures, increase regional biodiversity, and present powerful educational and eco-tourism opportunities that connect local communities and visitors with the standing forest.

Background & Problem Statement

The coastal region of Paraná hosts the largest continuous remnant of the Atlantic Forest, yet it faces severe historical and economic vulnerabilities. Over the past decades, extensive water buffalo ranching, illegal logging, and poaching led to intense environmental degradation and habitat fragmentation.

This environmental deterioration resulted in the loss of key ecosystems, soil erosion, and a steep decline in native species. Concurrently, the local traditional communities suffered from a lack of stable economic alternatives and low quality of life, often forcing families into informal or extractive activities. The challenge lies in reversing this cycle of environmental degradation and socioeconomic vulnerability by transforming the standing forest into a source of development.

Solution

Large-scale ecological restoration provides the opportunity to halt degradation, recover ecosystem services, and bring back lost biodiversity. This project aims to regenerate native Atlantic Forest ecosystems across our three private Nature Reserves (Guaricica, Papagaio-de-cara-roxa, and Das Águas). By removing degrading factors like buffaloes and implementing advanced restoration techniques, we rebuild structural forest complexity. This results in greater habitat availability, secure carbon sequestration, and the recovery of endangered species like the Red-tailed Amazon parrot (Amazona brasiliensis).

Opportunity

Our Nature Reserves are located within the "Grande Reserva Mata Atlântica" network, presenting a massive opportunity for conscious, regenerative eco-tourism and scientific research. The presence of established infrastructure, including our Nature Conservation School (Escola de Conservação da Natureza) inside the Guaricica Reserve, serves as an innovative platform to promote education, climate awareness, and local ownership. This setup allows public school students, landowners, and global visitors to experience science-backed conservation firsthand.

How We Regenerate

We engage in holistic approaches to landscape regeneration that include passive and active tropical reforestation, climate change mitigation through forest carbon sinks, and watershed protection. We experiment with real-world regenerative economic models by hiring local residents under formal labor contracts (CLT), guaranteeing labor rights while transforming them into professional conservation agents.

The funding from this round will help us scale our site-based ecosystem restoration, support the operations of our specialized wildlife protection programs, and strengthen our regional governance models that promote a nature-based economy across local municipalities.

Tracking Impact

This project is executed with rigorous scientific methodologies. A robust monitoring system, developed in cooperation with universities such as the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), continuously evaluates forest growth, natural regeneration, and carbon dynamics.

Additionally, community and biodiversity impacts are strictly recorded, tracking data such as:

• Hectares of forest successfully restored/protected

• Population census of endangered species (e.g., tracking the recovery of the Red-tailed Amazon parrot)

• Number of local students and teachers participating in environmental education workshops

• Number of green jobs and formal conservation contracts maintained within the local community

Our Experience

SPVS has over 40 years of experience in environmental restoration, wildlife conservation, and community building. Since 1999, we have managed 19,000 hectares of private Nature Reserves, pioneering some of the world's first large-scale forest carbon projects. SPVS has successfully driven the recovery of the Red-tailed Amazon parrot from 2,500 to over 10,000 individuals, established long-term environmental education programs in regional public schools, and developed technical manuals adopted nationwide for land tenure regularization and conservation governance.

Our Partnerships

Our historical success is rooted in strong, secure partnerships. We collaborate with international organizations like The Nature Conservancy (TNC), corporate sustainability leaders such as Fundação Grupo Boticário, and academic institutions like UFPR to ensure scientific validation and financial transparency. We have also worked alongside national funds like FUNBIO to promote restoration programs. As a member of the “The Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact”, SPVS plays a vital role in unifying regional efforts and scaling up high-impact conservation strategies to bring back one of the world's most threatened biomes. These experiences give SPVS the required institutional maturity, community trust, and expertise to manage international funds and scale up the impact of the "Production of Nature" model.