Learning from nature
Through the Green Belt in Alagoas and the Conservation Nursery for Wildlife in Bahia, Braskem is helping preserve local plant and animal life and encouraging the development of a new attitude towards the environment Conservation Nursery for Wildlife
written by ◦ Cláudio Pimentel and Valber Carvalho photos by ◦ Luciano Andrade

A landmark in the rich landscape of Pontal da Barra, which is home to Braskem’s Chlor Alkali Unit in Maceió, Alagoas, the Green Belt is a natural preserve covering 150 hectares (about 370 acres) between the Atlantic Ocean and Mundaú Lagoon. Twenty hectares of this environmental cordon housing native local wildlife, including rhea birds, agoutis, peccaries, deer and caiman alligators have undergone landscaping treatment: recovery of soil quality, reformation of sand dunes and recomposition of the Atlantic Forest landscape, as a result of a USD 8-million investment.

Work on this project began in 1987. As a Conservation Nursery for Brazilian Wildlife recognized and registered as such by IBAMA, the Brazilian environmental agency, Braskem’s Green Belt has sheltered over 300 wild animals over the course of the last 17 years, including endangered species. Over 220,000 seedlings have also been planted.

The lush vegetation that graces the area today has won it a new title: Outpost of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, planned for February of this year, soon after a visit by a Technical Commission, assigned by the National Board for the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve to endorse the Board’s own recommendation.

The State Biosphere Reserve Committee – Alagoas Session presented arguments in favor of the Green Belt on November 2004, in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, during the 14th Annual Meeting of the National Board, which is endorsed by the Ministry for the Environment, IBAMA and UNESCO.

Like a modern-day Noah, agronomy engineer Mário Calheiros has been observing the arrival of each plant and animal on a daily basis since 1987. He is thrilled to see the “Ark” otherwise known as the Green Belt receiving these important honors and becoming recognized outside the Northeast-Brazilian state of Alagoas. “When Braskem invited me to coordinate the restoration of this space and I saw the state it was in, I asked myself: What on earth can I do here? I nearly gave up. The area had been degraded by squatters and after the shacks were removed, all that was left was 50 coconut palms, some squalid patches of vegetation standing 30 cm high, and that was about it,” recalls Mário. Today he welcomes an average of 1,300 visitors to the site, including students and teachers, from grade school to university level, who are curious to learn how that transformation came about.

“What I found most gratifying after seeing all that destruction was perceiving how quickly Nature bounced back. After less than 10 years’ work, the seemingly impossible happened: the Green Belt began to thrive and attract everyone’s attention,” explains Mário. Once consolidated, the Green Belt reinvented itself. In addition to providing knowledge about restoring environmentally degraded areas, it also began offering learning opportunities and exchange programs involving the communities living near the Braskem unit. “We realized that visitors left here convinced that it is possible to restore and preserve the environment. But then we asked ourselves: Is that enough? The answer was: No, it’s not. We needed to give something back and use all that potential for the benefit of people who are just waiting for an opportunity; people who can change the realities of the communities where they live with some of the knowledge we have gained here.”

Through the Lagoa Viva (Living Lagoon) Environmental Education Program, also sponsored by Braskem, the Green Belt began to offer professional education courses in beekeeping, hydroponics and landscaping. In addition to disseminating environmental education, the space was gradually used to add value to its visitors’ job skills. The demand came from the community itself, which recognized the importance of environmental education, but also realized that it needed to learn trades that generate jobs and income. At the same time, the Green Belt and SEBRAE, the Brazilian government’s support service for small and medium-sized businesses, opened up the beekeeping course to other groups from outside the immediate area of the Braskem plant.

The Green Belt became an interface between the community and Braskem. The classes given there started to show results that surpassed all expectations. Today, for example, 90% of the 50 members of the Honey and Byproducts Producers’ Cooperative of Alagoas Ltd. (COOPMEL) have taken the beekeeping courses given at the Green Belt. In 2004, COOPMEL produced 30% of the 40 tonnes of honey produced in Alagoas, which has a total of 500 beekeepers. According to Mário Calheiro’s calculations, by 2007 COOPMEL will be producing 500 tonnes of honey. Most of its output will be exported. “For an agronomist like me, who started out felling trees, taking part in the recuperation of the Green Belt and seeing how important it has become for the community is balm for the soul,” says Mário.