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Photo of a Near Threatened White-necked Hawk sitting on a tree branch in a leafy forest.
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Rocha Bros

Brazil
Protect a critical ecological corridor linking Serra do Brigadeiro State Park with surrounding forests in the Atlantic Forest biome, a global priority biodiversity hotspot.
Vote now

Total Amount requested

US $100,000

Votes this year

16

AMOUNT Raised

Funds raised this year: $3,558 out of $100,000

About the Threat

Deforestation

If this land is not protected, it will no longer be able to serve as an ecological corridor between the neighboring state park and nearby unprotected forests.

The land continues to be cleared of vegetation, leading to soil erosion and rainwater runoff and preventing natural regeneration. The constant presence of cattle leads to more compacting of the soil, which further degrades the land, and maintaining the cattle pasture with Brachiaria grass hinders the ability of rainwater to infiltrate the soils in this important watershed.

Additionally, climate change is leading to an increased incidence of fire, which could easily reach the state park and be difficult to control due to the mountainous terrain. 

When this area is restored, it will increase habitat for biodiversity, strengthen ecosystem function, decrease erosion and runoff, and allow rainwater to infiltrate the soils and replenish the aquifer that supplies one of Brazil´s major rivers, the Paraiba do Sul, with its downstream population of 640,000. 

Photo of a Critically Endangered Northern Muriqui climbing through tree branches with a baby Northern Muriqui clinging to its back.
Critically Endangered Northern Muriqui. Photo by Bart vanDorp, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Why Vote for This Habitat

About this land

Rocha Bros plot is part of the Atlantic Forest biome, a global priority biodiversity hotspot and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The acquisition and further restoration of Rocha Bros would serve to protect the southern flank of the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park, strengthen existing ecological corridors, create and enlarge habitat for wildlife, and help to protect the headwaters of the Paraiba do Sul and Doce rivers. 

The land borders the 15,000 ha Serra do Brigadeiro State Park and connects to around 5,000 hectares of mainly well-preserved but unprotected forest in the Serra das Aranhas, and further areas of old growth and restored forest in the Serra da Graminha, where Iracambi works. 

The Serra do Brigadeiro mountains shelter a significant number of endemic and endangered species, most notably the largest population of the Critically Endangered Northern Muriqui or woolly spider monkey (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). Others include:

 

And new species are still being discovered! Just in the last ten years, researchers have discovered two new frogs (the Endangered Brachycephalus darkside and Near Threatened Physalaemus maximus), two new species of the Anthurium flowering plant, and a new insect (Guaranyperla puri).

The Serra do Brigadeiro mountains are also an important water catchment area that supplies the Rio Paraiba do Sul on the east side and the Rio Doce on the west, both of which maintain substantial downstream populations.

As the forests regenerate and are restored, they will capture additional carbon, help regulate weather patterns,  prevent erosion, and provide additional habitat for biodiversity.  

  • Backed by: Scientific advisory committee
Photo of an Endangered Vinaceous-breasted Amazon sitting on a thin tree branch against a white sky.
Endangered Vinaceous-breasted Amazon. Photo by Alessandher Piva, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.
Photo of a Vulnerable Masked Titi Monkey on a tree branch in the Atlantic forests of Brazil
Vulnerable Masked Titi Monkey, near Rocha Bros, Brazil.
Photo of an Endangered Brachycephalus darkside — a bright orange frog with brown spots on its back.
Endangered Brachycephalus darkside. Photo by Acervo/pesquisadores UFV/Agência Minas Gerais., CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons.

Cost of Land Purchase

Total Amount requested

$100,000 US

Minimum purchase

$100,000 US

Size of suggested purchased land of this application

39.6 ha

Minimum size that can be purchased

39.6 ha
Land purchase and associated legal costs and taxes $100,000
Total $100,000

Local Partner NGO

Amigos de Iracambi

Amigos de Iracambi has worked on community-based conservation, restoration, education, and research in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest since 2000. Iracambi runs four programs: Ecological Restoration (Forests 4 Water), Education for Sustainability (Young EcoLeaders), Research and Forest Monitoring (Smart Forest), and a volunteer program.

Status of registration at the national level

Nonprofit organization in Brazil

501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the US

Governance and management structure 

Iracambi Brazil has a board of directors, a financial committee, an advisory board, and a managing council consisting of the president and two directors.

Show on Google Maps
Map of the triangular-shaped Rocha Bros plot of land

Conservation Plans

We plan to restore/regenerate, monitor, and maintain the land until the young forests are viable. 

In the meantime, we will incorporate it into a Private Reserve (RPPN in Portuguese). This designation grants the land a legal conservation status that assures it protection in perpetuity. We are currently in the process of setting up an RPPN (which is a lengthy business in Brazil) consisting of two plots of land we previously acquired with international funding. These two plots are contiguous to one another and close to Rocha Bros.