At Black Jaguar Foundation we are realising one of the world’s longest biodiversity corridors, connecting the Amazon Rainforest and Cerrado Savanna.
But what is biodiversity and why is it so important? Our Articulation Coordinator, Marcelle Grumberg, explains below:
From the plankton in our seas to the jaguars skulking through our forests, biodiversity is the varied and distinct totality of all life forms on earth. For any ecosystem to remain healthy and alive, it must maintain its biodiversity. This is because different species perform different tasks within an ecosystem, and it is the culmination of all these tasks that keep the ecosystem functioning and alive. Just like how a multinational business wouldn’t be able to run without a combination of CEO’s, managers and interns – an ecosystem can’t survive without a synergetic mix of predators and prey, herbivores and omnivores, flora and fauna.
Healthy ecosystems provide us with critical services and natural products necessary for international human survival. For instance, our rainforests provide us with clean water, oxygen, food and medicine.
These critical services and products are necessary for our global development and contribute towards the UN’s seventeen sustainable development goals (see below). These goals were set by the United Nations general assembly in 2015 and are the seventeen key initiatives that need to be maintained if we are to transform our world and begin to develop sustainably, ensuring our survival as a species. Examples of these goals are: eradicating poverty, abolishing food insecurity, maintaining clean water and sanitation for everybody living worldwide. Find out more about the sustainable development goals and how the BJF mission will promote each of them here and below:
How does the BJF project promote biodiversity?
We have invested a huge portion of our time and resources into ensuring that we have the best technical partners, forest engineers and team in Brazil to realize biodiversity in the corridor. Our goal is not just to reforest but also to ecologically restore the Araguaia. With each hectare of land, we aim to methodically map out the area and plant an extensive mix of seeds, bringing back the rich and varied expanse of nature that once reigned.
We need nature now more than ever, and with the decade of restoration and eyes on biodiversity, we are taking action on the frontlines in Brazil. Restoring vital ecosystems that we, and our future generations need. Our forests are our life source. They are vital for all, for our future, for our climate and for the livelihoods of our local community and beyond. Covid-19 has made it all the clearer that the large-scale destruction of nature and its biodiversity comes at a huge cost. As habitat and biodiversity loss increase globally, it is time to act now and join our mission of hope and action.
Last year saw an increase in attention for biodiversity, with the hosting of the COP15, the release of the 7th report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) IPCC, and increased support for the UN Decade of Restoration, among others. We are a proud official actor for the Decade of Restoration, and that we thrilled to see what this decade will bring for biodiversity and restoration.
Nature has already shown its power in the Araguaia Biodiversity Corridor. What was barren land five years ago is now a forest bursting with life. The right mix of native trees encourages other plants to grow, birds to scatter seeds and small animals to find a home, leading other plants to grow and even more animals to thrive. Planting trees is the first step to encourage nature to take over and biodiversity to flourish again.
