Communities across Brazil are turning to their community seed banks to protect native species.
Soy cultivation and cattle ranching are two of the biggest drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Over 1000 sq kilometers of the Amazon rainforest has been cut down to expand farms growing soya in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Moreover, despite Brazil’s Amazon Soy Moratorium, which was enacted in 2006 to reduce deforestation, it is estimated that 90% of deforestation currently happening in Brazil is illegal. Many of these projects go unchecked because states are not providing accurate information to the national system that controls the origin of forest products.
Deforestation and clear-cutting to make space for soy cultivation lead to habitat destruction for various species and communities whose livelihoods depend on the forests. Intensive soy farming often involves the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers, which can lead to soil degradation, water pollution, and health risks for farmers and nearby communities.
Community seed bank solutions
Community members in Brazil are taking the problems of deforestation into their own hands by planting seeds from species that are native to rainforests but are at risk of disappearing. Planting seeds can be a cheaper, faster, and more efficient way to restore Brazil’s Amazon forest.
Community seed banks help preserve traditional and locally adapted crop varieties and promote biodiversity in agriculture, which is being wiped out by the development of monocultures such as the soya plantations.
Locally adapted crop varieties stored in community seed banks are often more resilient to climate change impacts, such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves. These varieties may have traits like drought tolerance, pest resistance, or the ability to thrive in low-input agricultural systems. Restoring native forests in Brazil is one way to help mitigate the effects of climate change on local and global scales.
Brazil has a goal to rehabilitate 60,000 square kilometers of deforested and degraded land by 2030. These community seed banks will have a significant impact on helping the country reach its goals.
Bringing culture into forest restoration
In Portuguese, the term “muvuca” is traditionally defined by a large group of people in one place. By relying on spreading large and varied mixtures of mostly native seeds, communities in Brazil are using muvuca to ensure the highest diversity of plants and trees.
Community seed banks play a role in preserving cultural heritage by maintaining traditional crop varieties that are often deeply intertwined with local cultures, rituals, and culinary traditions. Seed exchange events allow some communities to rediscover plant varieties that have become extinct in some areas but thrive in other areas of the rainforest.
For some communities in Brazil, collecting seeds is a way to earn an income, as they can sell their native species of seeds to companies that are looking to reforest degraded land and offset their environmental footprint.
Deforestation is not only a local issue but a global issue as well. Without trees to absorb the carbon, greenhouse gas emissions will rise and influence the effects of climate change on a bigger scale. Community seed banks and the efforts taken by local communities to help reforest degraded land will be significant to the health of our planet.
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is only one example where this type of project can be implemented. Community seed banks can happen all over the world to help bring back native plant and animal species and repair our environment from the damage we’ve caused over the years. It is an inspiring way to bring about change, and we can’t wait to see more of it.
