Forest engineer Pablo Hoffmann was one of those elected on Wednesday (27/4) of the most recent edition of the Whitley Prize as “pioneers in solutions to the biodiversity crisis”.
This award, given annually by the British foundation of the same name to six conservation leaders from Asia, Africa and Latin America, is one of the most prestigious environmental conservation awards in the world.
Hoffman was awarded for his fight to protect the araucaria forest in southern Brazil.
Each winner of the award, known as the “Green Oscar”, receives a prize of £40,000.
He is also awarded, this time with 100 thousand pounds (R$ 623 thousand), someone who has already been elected before.
The proposal is that, in a world where 1 million species are at risk of extinction, a phenomenon linked to climate change, awardees use these resources to accelerate their work to reverse the decline in biodiversity.
In addition to Hoffman, the awardees are:
- Dedy Yansyah from Indonesia for his efforts to save the Sumatran rhino;
- Emmanuel Amoah of Ghana, for protecting the last stronghold of West Africa’s thin-snouted crocodile;
- Estrela Matilde, from São Tomé and PrÃncipe, for the fight against plastic pollution to protect sea turtles;
- Micaela Camino, from Argentina, for the conservation of the dry Chaco forest and the chimilero pig;
- Sonam Lama from Nepal for the conservation of pandas in the Himalayas;
- Charudutt Mishra (previous winner), for his fight to save snow leopards in 12 countries.
“Any ecosystem out of balance is a long-term global danger,” says Pablo Hoffmann.
threatened araucaria
The forestry engineer and his colleagues are creating the world’s most diverse araucaria nursery.
Brazil’s araucaria forest is mainly found in Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul and is part of the vast Atlantic Forest or Atlantic Forest biome.
Currently, it only survives in fragments.
“In Paraná, the araucaria forest covered about 40% of the state, but today there is less than 1% of forests in good condition, similar to those in the past,” said Hoffmann.
Araucaria is a very old tree. Fossils have been found in Argentina around 160 million years old.
The species from southern Brazil is Araucaria angustifolia and stands out for its height in the highest altitude of the Atlantic Forest, more than 500 meters above sea level.
The destruction of the araucaria forest is due to “economic cycles that occurred in southern Brazil,” said Hoffmann.
“First the raising of cattle, then the cultivation of yerba mate, the exploitation of wood.”
“And lately what is happening is that all these areas are being converted into agricultural areas, whether for pasture or mainly for planting soybeans, corn and wheat. So, agribusiness, this conversion, has made the forest more and more fragmented.
And with this fragmentation, the danger of extinction seriously increases, warns the scientist.
“Imagine that some species are very rare to find naturally, so when that happens they are at a very high risk of going extinct in a short time because they will probably no longer have pollinators, seed dispersers and will start to cross between relatives because they have very few individuals.
“With each extinct species we lose some of the natural history of the origin of life, as well as important connections in ecological chains.”
Nursery
As deforestation increases, reforestation efforts lack essential plant diversity to help araucaria and other forest species adapt to climate change.
The araucaria coexists in the region with at least 250 species of trees and more than 700 species of other plants such as herbs, shrubs, orchids and bromeliads.
Hoffmann and his team from the NGO Sociedade Chauá are creating a nursery with more than 215 species, including 80 rare plants.
“Our nursery covers more than 80% of the known tree species in the araucaria forest, and for some we were able to find new populations, more than double the number of individuals known in nature.”
“What we do is mainly find endangered species, collect their seeds, make them breed in the nursery and try to reintroduce them into the wild.”
The project also includes research available to other nurseries in Brazil or abroad, as well as educational and work tasks with rural landowners.
“Probably with this work we are one of the few chances these endangered species have to survive.”
Hoffman acknowledges that doing this kind of conservation work in Latin America is not easy.
“We have to be very hopeful, because generally in Latin American countries, like Brazil, there is not always enough incentive for this type of work.”
“So you have to have a team of passionate people, who really enjoy doing it, and it would be really interesting if everyone knew they could help too. Ordinary people, lawmakers, politicians, they can be triggers for a change in perspective on extinction. of ecosystems and species”.
*With reporting by Alejandra Martins, from BBC News Mundo.
