Saving forests, changing lives
Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest is of the world's top five biodiversity hotspots, where Iracambi dedicates its work to saving forests and changing lives.
A little bit about us. We're a non-profit organization, Amigos de Iracambi, supporting a Research Center which is based on a sustainable forest farm where we can put our ideas to work. We're in the buffer zone of the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park in the mountains of southeastern Brazil. It's an area of extraordinary beauty, abundant water and exceptional biodiversity, and it's home to the world's largest population of the highly endangered northern muriqui monkey - known as the Wooly Spider Monkey.
Changing lives - with your help
Iracambi continues to have a lasting impact on hundreds of people:
- schoolkids who plant trees, walk our informative forest trails and learn about our natural resources;
- local farmers who discover more sustainable ways of farming and see yields and incomes increase;
- international volunteers, researchers and visitors who discover the beauty of the Atlantic Forest, learn new skills, make lifelong friends and help deliver Iracambi programs and projects;
- local and state policy makers who consult the Iracambi GIS database and draw on our international experience;
- local communities who discover that together they can work to change their own lives, and create a more sustainable future.
We need your help to continue our work in developing sustainable communities. Why not come visit, and help change lives - starting with yours!
Junior Scientists @ Iracambi
Junior Scientists @ Iracambi is our exciting new program of Environmental Education that transforms schoolchildren in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest into forest guardians. Through hands-on education they learn the science of forestry, collect data on soils and water, and share their discoveries with their families, gaining a new understanding of the forest as a resource to be nurtured and not exploited.
So what's the problem?
One of the world's top five biodiversity hotspots, the Atlantic Rainforest is a place of extraordinary beauty and a treasure house of biodiversity. Tragically, much of its immense variety of flora and fauna is severely endangered by habitat loss - 93% of the Atlantic Rainforest has vanished. Unsustainable agricultural practices result in erosion, loss of soil fertility, low crop yields, over-grazing, and strain on water resources, leading to a vicious cycle of rural poverty and deforestation.
What's the solution?
We work with school children to make tree seedlings, plant and care for young trees, track changes in forest cover and water quality, share the results with their families, and promote new ways of conservation farming that bring money to poor farmers.
Potential Long Term Impact
While the fate of the rainforest affects us all, its future depends largely on those who live in it. Junior Scientists @ Iracambi aims to equip 400 schoolchildren with the tools they need to understand the connection between restoring forests, protecting soils and water, and living better. Through developing knowledge, skills and ability in the the younger generation we train future forest guardians to share with their parents opportunities that they themselves never had.
A project with a difference
Junior Scientists @ Iracambi is our first project to be funded through crowdsourcing. Our goal is to raise $12,000 and we're almost there. We've also managed to leverage an additional grant of $3000 to cover transport and snacks for hungry junior scientists, AND we've received the generous donation of equpment for water monitoring.
