Açaí cultivation redeveloping forestry land in Brazil

12/09/2012

Forestry in Brazil has found an unlikely ally in the açaí fruit, a superfood touted for its anti-ageing properties.

There has been a huge increase in demand around the world for the fruit over the past few years, which is finally starting to show in terms of forest cover as scientists at the World Conservation Congress noted that the tree is actually replacing cattle pastures in certain areas of the Amazonian floodplain.

Brazil's area of the Amazon covers 4.1 million square kilometres and accounts for one third of the world's remaining tropical forests. However, while deforestation is gradually being brought under control, it remains a problem, with many people choosing to cut down forest and replace it with land for valuable cattle.

But it now looks like this land is now being replanted with açaí trees, as the fruit becomes increasingly worthwhile to cultivate.

Christine Paddoch, director of forests and livelihoods research at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), noted that when smallholders and those in the know about proper forestry management control this replanting, “they tend to have many other species in there, because people use these areas to support their own livelihoods”.

She added, “For example, farmers often also plant fast-growing timber species for construction and even small amounts of rice next to the açaí trees, because the estuarine area floods twice a day and the rice attracts fish for them to eat.”

This way of managing forests tends to offer a better balance and future for the rainforest and is a method that scientists are keen to know more about.