When we talk about solutions for climate change mitigation, the forest is the fundamental part of carbon sequestration and storage in Brazil, in view of its natural wealth. To get an idea, 66% of the country is covered with native vegetation.

But how is it possible to remove carbon from the atmosphere? We know that there are three large carbon sinks on the planet: the oceans, wetlands and terrestrial ecosystems (including all plant formations here), and forests play an essential role in this process. A study conducted by the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture (ESALQ) of the University of São Paulo indicates that, on average, 7 trees can remove about 1 ton of CO² from the atmosphere in their first two decades of life.

In addition to showing that trees represent a huge solution to mitigate carbon emissions and contain the advance of the greenhouse effect and its serious consequences on the environment, they now have economic value from the conversion of these emissions into carbon credits, the so-called carbon market.

Despite the great potential to curb the warming of the planet, deforestation of Brazilian forests has been growing every year. Data from MapBiomas show that Brazil lost 1,655,782 hectares of native vegetation cover in 2021. An increase of 20% in the deforested area compared to the previous year. In the Atlantic Forest, 30,200 hectares were deforested.

On the other hand, the ecological restoration of areas converted and abandoned for years has great potential for reduction or removal of greenhouse gases (GHG), and creating opportunities for the generation of carbon credits.

The carbon market is one of the different sources of resources possible to boost large-scale forest restoration, mainly private. But it is also possible to leverage additional investments for the implementation of the restoration and support its long-term maintenance from its potential to generate jobs and income.

In this scenario, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil has been working with the support of the Regenera América Program in serra da Mantiqueira to scale forest restoration through payment for environmental services (PSA) and generation of carbon credits.

In just under a year, the initiative has already signed 33 contracts with landowners who, in addition to supplies needed to isolate the area that have committed to regenerate, receive payments for environmental services, with the possibility of generating carbon from the regeneration of areas and certification for carbon offset. These contracts total 1,080 hectares.

In the same way, mantiqueira's Conservative Program brings the carbon market as a possible way to finance restoration from private investment and offer rural owners the opportunity to obtain income and PSA.

This work is carried out in 425 municipalities of Serra da Mantiqueira, located in the Atlantic Forest biome, at the confluence of the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais; and seeks to recover 1.5 million hectares through natural regeneration and conservation, with the possibility of generating carbon from the certification of these areas for carbon offset.

The work that TNC develops with the Mantiqueira Conservation Program, in the Atlantic Forest, focuses on the generation of incentives for the creation of models in which environmental conservation and socioeconomic growth can coexist, from the valorization of the preserved forest and in the process of restoration; so that it can also be a carbon market-inducing project in the region.

Thus, faced with a scenario in which climate change is a reality and has been intensifying, it is necessary to analyze these opportunities to create a favorable environment that attracts resources to be invested in forest restoration projects in the country and stimulates the development of new initiatives on a larger scale.

Forest restoration has taken the lead as one of the most effective and cost-effective options to achieve co2 sequestration goals and commitments and, from this, create opportunities for income generation tied to the carbon market. An unprecedented study conducted with the support of important institutions of the restoration agenda and TNC Brazil shows that the country can generate from 1 million to 2.5 million direct jobs with the restoration process of 12 million hectares degraded by 2030. Most of the existing jobs involve the Atlantic Forest (85%), a pioneer in restoration activities in Brazil.

Looking at this panorama, we can highlight that actions to conserve and restore forests now assume an important and strategic role.