For the first time, Biofílica Ambipar is awarded the prize for “Best Individual Offsetting Project”
São Paulo, September 26th, 2022 – Biofílica Ambipar Environment won an Environmental Finance Award for the fifth time. In this edition, the company was awarded for the first time in the category “Best Individual Offsetting Project” for its Corridors for Life AR Project, developed in partnership with IPÊ (the Institute for Ecological Research), a Brazilian socio-environmental organization that has developed projects since 1992 for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest. In the four previous editions, Biofílica Ambipar received awards in the “Best Project Developer, Forest and Land use” category in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020. This year, it came in second place.
The winning project is part of a new phase of the Corridors for Life Project, created and implemented by IPÊ in 2002 in the Pontal do Paranapanema, extreme west of the state of São Paulo, in the Atlantic Forest biome. IPÊ’s work is an initiative supported by three pillars: climate, community and biodiversity, with national and international recognition. This forest restoration work has as its starting point the “Dream Map of Pontal do Paranapanema,” created through IPÊ’s expertise, which defined the priority areas for reforestation in western São Paulo in seven municipalities.
“It is with great joy that we once again receive the Environmental Finance Award. We have won four other awards, and this time we won with one of our important projects, the Corridors for Life AR Project. In this case, besides the climate and biodiversity component, this project promotes several benefits to the community, mainly through environmental education activities, from the implementation of courses and incentives to the establishment of forest seedlings nurseries, which makes us very proud of the work we have done together with our partners”, celebrates Plínio Ribeiro, CEO of Biofílica Ambipar.
“We are very happy with the award dedicated to the project. The partnership with Biofílica Ambipar is very relevant for us to scale up our carbon mitigation and socioenvironmental impact in the Pontal do Paranapanema. This year alone, forest restoration has guaranteed 250 jobs in the region. Many people find in this activity a chance to generate income for their families – from those who work in IPÊ’s nurseries to the companies that execute the plantations accompanied by our technical team. An award is always a great recognition, but also a great responsibility to do more and better for the Atlantic Forest and Brazilian biodiversity, which is IPÊ’s mission”, says Dr. Laury Cullen Jr, coordinator of the Corridors for Life Project at IPÊ.
In 2021, IPÊ expanded its reforestation actions through a partnership with Biofílica Ambipar Environment, creating together the Corridors for Life AR Project and directing efforts towards the generation of carbon credits to be certified by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community and Biodiversity (CCB) standard, of Verra. By restoring the Atlantic Forest in the Pontal do Paranapanema region through the planting of seedlings, enrichment, or regeneration of areas, the project contributes to the conversion of 75,000 hectares of areas of environmental liabilities on private properties into restored areas with about 150 million new tree seedlings.
With the adhesion of the carbon component, the priority areas of the “Dream Map” were expanded from 7 to 30 municipalities. The Corridors for Life AR Project has already restored 500 hectares since December 2021, which is equivalent to approximately 1 million Atlantic Forest tree seedlings, and will implement another 1,250 hectares by the end of 2023, totaling 1,750 hectares in two years of operation. The expectation is to attract companies interested in buying the carbon removal credits.
Dr. Laury Cullen highlights: “The forest restoration work that IPÊ carries out together with partners has the CCB – Climate, Community and Biodiversity – as a tripod. I emphasize that in the Climate sphere, forests remove carbon, which contributes to mitigate the effects of climate change. Regarding Community, the generation of employment is notable in local communities, generating an increase in income. As for Biodiversity, forest restoration and landscape management contribute to the conservation of flora and fauna, and thus to the entire biodiversity”. The black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus), an endangered species and the focus of IPÊ’s project, is also among the species benefited by the restoration actions.
Founded in 2008, the mission of Biofílica Ambipar Environment is to create a solid and reliable environmental services market in Brazil through the generation and sale of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). The company develops carbon projects that promote the reduction and sequestration of carbon emissions through forest conservation and reforestation, valuing standing forests and their environmental services and protecting biodiversity. In addition, it invests in scientific research and in the socioeconomic development of the communities that live in these areas. It is also a national reference in legal reserve compensation, offering solutions in all modalities, states and biomes.
IPÊ – Ecological Research Institute – is a Brazilian non-profit organization that works for the conservation of biodiversity in the country through science, education and sustainable business. Founded in 1992, it has its headquarters in Nazaré Paulista (São Paulo), where its education center, ESCAS – Escola Superior de Conservação Ambiental e Sustentabilidade, is also located.
Present in the Atlantic Forest, Amazon, Pantanal and Cerrado biomes, the Institute carries out around 30 projects a year, applying the IPÊ Conservation Model, which involves scientific research on species, environmental education, community involvement and mobilization, habitat and landscape conservation, and support for the construction of public policies. In addition to local projects, the Institute also implements work in several regions, following the themes Protected Areas, Urban Areas and Research & Development (Natural Capital and Biodiversity).
With its administrative office in São Paulo and head office in Nova Odessa – SP, Ambipar is a Brazilian multinational with a presence in 16 countries in South America, Europe, Africa, North America and Antarctica. Formed by Ambipar Environment and Ambipar Response, two segments of reference in the environmental management market, it has in its DNA the commitment to sustainable issues, working the ESG Pillars within its business and supporting its clients.