The Return of Fauna in a Planted Forest

Threatened and fragmented, the Atlantic Rainforest still accounts for an important portion of Brazil's biodiversity. The specimens of this biome's fauna identified at the Fazenda Bulcão RPPN are important indicators of the success of the reforestation actions promoted by Instituto Terra in the area.

Monitoring shows that everything from small invertebrates such as ants, beetles and butterflies to a family of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) live in the new forest. The cycle of the food chain has been reestablished, helping to complete the process of rescuing biodiversity in a planted forest.

Among the total number of birds identified in the reforested area of Instituto Terra, six of them are considered to be in a vulnerable state or in danger of extinction.

Examples of the tropical beauties include the Red-browed Parrot (Amazona rhodocorytha), the Vinaceous Parrot (Amazona vinacea), the Robust Woodpecker (Campephilus robustus), the Bare-throated Bellbird (Procnias nudicollis), the Blue-winged Macaw (Propyrrhura maracana) and the Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola).

Seen as biological indicators of environmental degradation, the birds are examples of the fauna that play an essential ecological role of forest habitats, helping, for example, with predation, pollination and seed dispersion.

Because they are more easily detected, they are considered, by many researchers, a faster and more effective way to promote environmental diagnosis or support the monitoring in biologically significant areas as those undergoing restoration.

Dubbed ‘queens of the night’ because of their characteristics such as accurate vision, even in almost total darkness, owls inhabit several of Brazil's biomes. In the Atlantic Forest, endemic species such as the Yellow-bellied Murucutu occur, and these have already been recorded at the Fazenda Bulcão RPPN.

As a result of the landscaping project devised by Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, architect and co-founder of Instituto Terra, the year-round flowering groves in the central area of RPPN Fazenda Bulcão are now a magnet for delicate species such as hummingbirds, which play an important role in pollination processes.

Predators, rapine birds also act by the estabilization of the ecosystem, favoring the maintenance of diversity rates.

The restoration promoted by Instituto Terra goes beyond planting trees. It involves protection against fire and hunters, as well as environmental education, demonstrating to the community the importance of conservation and the recovery of flora and fauna in the region.

Since the first tree seedlings were planted in 1999, reforestation at RPPN Fazenda Bulcão has involved a greater diversity of species each year. The trees that have already grown serve as homes for wildlife such as the collared anteater.

Instituto Terra is located in the east of Minas Gerais, a prime Brazilian state with areas covered by the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and Caatinga biomes. All this heterogeneity of ecosystems also manifests itself in the existence of a great variety of fauna.

In total, 15 species of amphibians and 16 of reptiles have been identified in the reforested area of the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Bulcão Farm, a conservation unit that every year becomes more attractive to new and legitimate residents of the Atlantic Forest.