Ecological importance of the site
Matutu Reserve and Matutu Community are located in the Atlantic Rainforest (Mata Atlântica) biome, a global biodiversity hotspot with the dire status of being one of the world’s most endangered biomes. It is part of the Mantiqueira highlands, with altitudes ranging from 1400 to 2300 m.a.s.l., presenting a subtropical, mid-altitude climate and unique phyto physiognomies of the Atlantic Forest Biome.
The Serra do Papagaio connects with surrounding mountains, forming one of the highest mountain systems in Brazil. The altitudinal and climatic gradient on crystalline rocks creates niches and ecosystems unique to these mountains. Climate change and global warming result in increasing pressure on several endemic plants. The region comprises the northernmost remnants of the once-widespread humid forests of the Atlantic Forest, dominated by the mind-boggling, “pre-historic”, and economically and culturally important Araucaria angustifolia (Paraná pine, Curi or Curiúva in the Indigenous Guarani language) trees and the co-dominant Podocarpus lambertii (atambú-açú, or pinheiro bravo).
The area holds a mosaic of private reserves and is located in buffer zones of two protected areas: the Serra do Papagaio State Park and the Itatiaia National Park. It is also part of the core zone of the Mata Atlantica Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO.
Socio-economic importance
The Matutu site is located near the shared borders of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais states. The Mantiqueira mountains have springs and rivers that supply a large portion of the water used by the surrounding cities and rural villages, in one of the most densely populated parts of Brazil.
Due to its inter-generational, community-led restoration and conservation efforts, Matutu Valley has become an area which attracts visitors seeking connection or reconnection with nature, as well as nature-related outdoors activities. Ecotourism and all related activities have become an integral - and largely positive -part of the local and regional economies.
Restoration efforts underway
The conservation and restoration work in Matutu began in 1984. The valley and the adjacent National Park , had been continually impacted by forest fires, overgrazing, and sporadic episodes of illegal logging. We have made big progress in addressing all of those external threats. A local volunteer forest fire brigade was created in the mid-1990s and, over the years since then, has managed to eliminate or control a significant part of the fires that still repeatedly occur and deeply threaten the area’s ecosystems and people. Fire management, prevention, and fire fighting still galvanise the local community. With average temperatures increasing, and longer, drier annual dry seasons, these activities are becoming more vital every year.
Prior to the 16th century, the Mixed Ombrophilous Forest with Araucaria angustifolia covered large areas of the south and southeast of Brazil. Today, those forests are reduced to less than 2% of their former area, and the dominant and emblematic Araucaria, one of only two South American species in this Gondwanan genus and family, is listed in the IUCN Red List as “critically endangered”. The reintroduction and reinforcement of the local Araucaria population has been and still is an important activity in Matutu, with an average of 4,000 Araucaria trees planted each year, together with other native tree species (see below).
The Matutu Reserve and local projects, such as the volunteer fire brigade and several others, are managed by the Matutu Foundation (Fundação Matutu), a non-profit organisation established in 1995. Through the foundation, Matutu has extended its network of partners beyond its bioregion and is aiming to establish - together with EHN, and key partners in Brazil and Argentina - a network of sites, projects and institutional actors in ecological restoration and conservation throughout the Mata Atlântica biome, and in fact, throughout Latin America. That ambitious project will depend on including and supporting at least one node serving as living laboratories, training and capacity building demonstration sites, and centers of excellence, in each of the Atlantic Rainforest, Cerrado and Chaco Savannas, and the Amazon biome, among others.
Furthermore, in the coming years, we will extend the ecological restoration and conservation action developed in Matutu to a larger area in Southeastern Brazil, collaborating with other key organisations like Pacto Pela Restauração da Mata Atlântica, as well as public universities, to systematise the forty-years of acquired knowledge and knowhow, promote scientific research and enrich the ecological restoration efforts with more “framework” species, such as Podocarpus lambertii, Machaerium villosum and M. nyctitans, Aspidosperma parvifolium, Eugenia uniflora, Eremanthus erythropappus, Gochnatia polymorpha and Tibouchina granulosa, among other species already being planted in Matutu.
Matutu is honoured to join the Ecological Health Network to scale up its restoration and conservation projects while promoting intercultural collaboration among scientists and practitioners active in Biocultural Restoration.
Key accomplishments to date
- More than 160,000 araucaria trees planted.
- The first volunteer forest firefighting brigade in Brazil.
- More than 400 fire events effectively controlled by the Matutu Brigade.
- Estimated 12,000 hectares protected from burning by the Matutu Brigade.
References:
Benites,V.M ; CUNHA, T. J. F. ; FERRAZ, R. P. D. ; CAIAFA, A. N. ; SIMAS, F. N. B. ; SÁ MENDONCA, E. . Caracterização de solos em duas topossequencias em diferentes litologias em áreas altimontanas na Serra da Mantiqueira.. CPAP - Boletim de Pesquisa EMBRAPA, Rio de Janeiro, p. 1-35, 2003.
SIMAS, F. N. B.; SCHAEFER, C. E. G. R. ; FERNANDES FILHO, E. I. ; CHAGAS, A. C. ; BRANDÃO, P. C. . Chemistry, mineralogy and micropedology of highland soils on crystalline rocks of the Serra da Mantiqueira, southeastern Brazil.. Geoderma (Amsterdam) , v. 125, p. 187-201, 2005.
MINAS GERAIS. Plano de Manejo do Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio. Encarte 1 - Diagnóstico do Parque. Costa, C.M.R (Coord. Geral). Instituto Estadual de Florestas de Minas Gerais, 141 p., 2009.