The Carajás National Forest (FLONA), one of the largest blocks of native
vegetation in southeastern Pará, celebrates 24 years of its official
creation by decree no. 2.486. Managed by the Instituto Chico Mendes de
Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), in partnership with Vale, the
area covers 411,948.87 hectares. Despite its official date, the
preservation of the space has been going on since 1985.
Flora conservation
In December 2014, a partnership between
Instituto Tecnológico Vale
and Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi was signed with the aim of
strengthening the botanical base with a focus on the sustainable
performance of mining in the forest. As a result, the number of
species in the flora of the canga de Carajás has grown and currently
has 1,094 types of plants.
In addition, the
Parque Zoobotânico Vale (PZV), which is located inside the Forest, has an extensive area of
native forest, where 5,000 plant samples have already been located,
more than 10 new plants registered in Pará and 1 new species of plant.
registered in Brazil.
The work carried out at the Carajás Herbarium (HCJS), which is located
in the park, is internationally recognized by the Index Herbariorum
(IH). The institution acts as a certifier of the seriousness of
scientific collections, managed by The New York Botanical Garden.
Wildlife preservation
The
Parque Zoobotânico, with an area of 30 hectares, also allows the free movement of
native species that inhabit the same visitation space, allowing the
public to live a unique and immersive experience among birds, agoutis
and monkeys.
At the site, there are more than 360 animals among 70 species of
birds, mammals and reptiles, including some rare or threatened with
extinction, such as the harpy eagle, ararajuba, jaguar, cougar,
white-fronted spider monkey and saki monkey. The place also serves as
a genetic stock to work for the benefit of the preservation of
Brazilian fauna and flora.
Guardians of the Rainforest
In the documentary Guardians of the Rainforest, produced by Vale, it is
possible to know in detail how forest care work is carried out through
the eyes of biologists, researchers and the local community. The series
is divided into four themed episodes: “Conservation”, “Science and
Research”, “Institutional Partnerships” and “Recovery”. The 47-minute
documentary was aired on Discovery channels.
Click here and find out about the project
Sustainability at Vale
Currently, Vale helps protect approximately 1 million hectares of land.
The area is approximately 11 times larger than the total occupied by the
company's operating units. Of the protected areas, 4.2% are owned and
the rest in partnership with other agencies. In 2019, Vale made an even
more ambitious commitment: to protect another 400,000 hectares and
recover 100,000 hectares of forests beyond its borders by 2030.
Learn more about Vale's commitment
In the Amazon - which is home to 50% of the world's rainforest, the
largest watershed, a fifth of fresh water, 400 billion trees, 20% of the
Earth's species diversity and stores between 150 and 200 billion tons of
carbon -, Vale has been operating for over 30 years.
Click here to learn
more about on-site initiatives.