Matheus Torres Walder
Forest restoration is gaining attention for its role in mitigating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity, especially in tropical regions of the globe due to the high levels of deforestation and the rich biodiversity found in these areas. Due to the high costs of active restoration, natural regeneration methods are often preferred by government and local stakeholders. The southern Bahia region of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a restoration priority, due to its high number of endemic species and significant disturbance levels, ranked among the greatest deforester within the biome.
Cabruca. ©Matheus Torres.
Traditional shade cocoa plantations, known as “cabrucas,” help preserve canopy trees, which provide shade and habitat for native species and have helped mitigate deforestation in the region. Despite the protection provided by shade cocoa agroforests, the region is still characterized by significant deforestation, particularly due to hunting mainly where the area hosts populations of small and medium-sized mammals. Some farm areas have been abandoned due to a fungus that severely impacted cocoa production at the end of last century, transforming them into potential sites for natural regeneration, either as restoration areas or as seed source.
Our project aims to unveil the potential of shaded cocoa agroforest for forest regeneration and providing a new income source through the sale of seeds for restoration programs. To achieve this, we will visit 21 shaded cocoa agroforests situated within different landscapes and local factors to elucidate the key predictors of seed availability and viability presented on the seed bank. Additionally, we will monitor the fate of planted saplings of two selected species of high value for biodiversity conservation (Euterpe edulis and Inga edulis) within cocoa farms. Through this, we aim to uncover the effects of landscape and local factors on two different stages of forest regeneration: the restructuring of the soil seed bank and the survival of saplings within shaded cocoa agroforests in southern Bahia.