New “food forest”

At the beginning of 2009, a new agroforestry system has been started in a degraded pasture land following the principles of permaculture. The active participation of volunteers allowed to finalize the digging of swales on contour and the planting of more than 2000 banana sapplings plus pionneer and leguminous species . A nursery has been also created for the fruit trees that will complete the system.

Plantation View From Hill 700x344general view of the site

Working on Swales 500x375placing logs cross-slopes

Lower Swale 500x345lower swale

Swale Detail 500x375swale detail

Banana Shoot 500x667first banana shoots

The “cabruca” system and its value for conservation

about 80% of the brazilian cocoa originates from the state of Bahia and most of it (including at fazenda puravida) is cultivated in an agroforestry system called “cabruca” where the cocoa trees grow under the canopy of a mix of native primary or secondary forest trees plus productive fruit trees such as caja (spondias monbin), jaca (artocarpus heterophyllus), jenipapo (genipa americana)…

cabruca

Venture Capitalism for a Tropical Forest – COCOA IN THE MATA ATLÂNTICA, a  survey published in 2003 by the Worlwatch Institute emphasizes the strong conservation potential of cocoa :

by turning a cocoa-growing tradition into an “eco-business,”farmers and investors could help save the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, one of the most biologically diverse and endangered forest biomes in the world. Such an effort could also increase rural employment and help build an economy that can sustain the forest instead of destroying it.

published by brunozinho