Arbor Day: the importance of environmental preservation and the role of sustainable oil palm cultivation

On Arbor Day, celebrated on September 21, we are invited to reflect on the importance of trees for environmental balance and the preservation of life. Trees are essential for maintaining biodiversity, soil protection, air quality and climate regulation. Through photosynthesis, they sequester large quantities of CO₂, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.

One practice that has been gaining prominence is the sustainable cultivation of palm (also known as dendê), which not only generates raw materials for biofuels and renewable inputs, but also plays a fundamental role in reducing the effects of climate change. In Pará and Roraima, Grupo BBF leads the way in this area, with more than 75,000 hectares and more than 11 million palm trees, which are responsible for capturing approximately 800,000 tons of carbon a year - 729,000 tons in Pará and 71,000 tons in Roraima. In addition, the company protects more than 60,000 hectares of Legal Reserve Areas (RL) and Permanent Preservation Areas (APP), which contribute to the stock of around 26.6 million tons of carbon in Pará and 3.1 million tons in Roraima every year.

This positive impact is even more significant when we remember that oil palm cultivation in Brazil follows the strict Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm (Decree No. 7.712/2010). This legislation only allows planting in degraded areas until 2007, which means that the expansion of oil palm cultivation does not threaten the forest, but rather promotes the environmental recovery of areas that have already been deforested. A study carried out by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) identified 31 million hectares of degraded areas in the Amazon where oil palm cultivation can be carried out in a totally sustainable way. Currently, around 300,000 hectares are used for oil palm cultivation in Brazil, 75,000 of them by Grupo BBF in Roraima and Pará, promoting environmental recovery in these regions.

Brazil's Potential

Brazil's potential is enormous. The country has the capacity to expand palm cultivation without deforesting a single tree, surpassing the world's largest producers, who together cultivate this crop on 22 million hectares. This puts Brazil in a position of global leadership, combining economic development with environmental preservation.

As well as boosting the reduction of carbon emissions and promoting the generation of clean energy, this crop boosts the local economy, generating thousands of jobs and income for thousands of people, since oil palm cultivation cannot be mechanized. This sustainable production cycle plays an extremely important role in decarbonizing the planet, providing solutions that balance economic development and environmental protection.

The planting of thousands of trees in the Amazon region, carried out by Grupo BBF since 2008, is also promoting biodiversity. Despite being exotic to the region, the palm brings several advantages to the areas where it is grown, because it transforms previously degraded areas into ecological corridors.

Performance of Grupo BBF

In the areas cultivated by the company, for example, around 5,000 records have been made and more than 400 species of wild animals have been identified in recent monitoring campaigns. These include reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and fish, some of which are classified as rare and even threatened with extinction. In addition, to maintain the balance of the forest, the company adheres to the model of good environmental management practices with highly efficient use in production processes.

On this Arbor Day, it's important to remember that actions such as the sustainable cultivation of the oil palm are fundamental to preserving our environment and guaranteeing a greener future for generations to come. May we continue to plant the seeds of sustainability and environmental awareness.