More than 400 species of wild animals have been recorded in Grupo BBF palm cultivation areas in Pará and Roraima. What was once a vast expanse of deforested areas in the Amazon rainforest, without life, has become a green space, with recovered soil, retained carbon and wild animals roaming around.
This is what happens in the areas where oil palm, better known as dendê, is grown by Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels) in these two states. In the more than 75,000 hectares cultivated by the company, around 5,000 records have already been made and more than 400 species of wild animals have been identified in the latest monitoring campaigns. These include reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and fish, some of which are classified as rare and even threatened with extinction.
Despite the technical limitations in carrying out the studies, Grupo BBF 's sustainability team has already observed a diversity of more than 85 species of reptiles and amphibians, 270 birds, 25 mammals and 40 fish in the company's cultivation areas. "We believe that this number could be much higher, considering the richness of Brazil's biomes and the benefits generated by our activities. Bioindicator species of good environmental quality were found, which attests to the effectiveness of the actions taken to preserve the environment in the company's region of influence," says Milton Steagall, CEO of Grupo BBF.
Grupo BBF (Brasil BioFuels), a Brazilian company founded in 2008, is the largest palm oil producer in Latin America, with a cultivated area of over 75,000 hectares and a production capacity of 200,000 tons of oil per year.
The company is a pioneer in the creation of sustainable solutions for renewable energy generation in isolated systems, with thermoelectric plants powered by biofuels produced in the region. Its agricultural activity recovers areas that were degraded until 2007 in the Amazon, following the Oil Palm Agroecological Zoning (ZAE), approved by the Federal Government's Decree 7172, May 7, 2010.
Grupo BBF has created an integrated business model in which it operates from the beginning to the end of the value chain - from sustainable oil palm cultivation, crude oil extraction, biofuel production, biotechnology and renewable energy generation. Grupo BBF 's operations are located in the states of Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia, Roraima and Pará, comprising 38 thermoelectric plants (25 in operation and 13 under implementation), 3 oil palm crushing units, a soybean extruder and a biodiesel industry.
Another positive influence of the company's operations is the reduction in deforestation hotspots. Areas close to Grupo BBF 's operations in São João da Baliza (RR) have 85% fewer deforestation alerts than areas further away in the same region, according to a survey carried out using the "MapBiomas Alerta" monitoring platform.
