Suzano understands that ecological restoration is a company commitment and responsibility in the regions where it operates. To meet legal requirements, certification requirements, and voluntary commitments, since 2010, the company has been carrying out the Ecological Restoration Program, which covers the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Amazon biomes and is active in all its forestry business units.
Given Suzano's territorial expression and the diversity of environments in which it operates, besides the complexity of ecological restoration was necessary to create a diversified network of strategic partners that includes NGOs, universities, companies, and neighboring communities to develop the Program. This network has been innovating in restoration technology, seeking to improve efficiency, reduce environmental impacts, generate job opportunities, and share knowledge to create specific restoration methodologies for the three mentioned biomes. For further information, please check the indicator "Commitments and Partnerships".
Suzano's Ecological Restoration Program seeks to increase connectivity among the existing forest fragments and to encourage the formation of networks of ecologically representative conservation areas in the areas where it is implemented.
Thus, the Program promotes the improvement of ecosystem services, such as water supply and purification, biological control of pests and diseases, local and regional climate regulation, air quality improvement, carbon sequestration and storage, pollination and others. For more details, check the indicator "Optimizing opportunities for ecosystem services provided by forest areas."
The Ecological Restoration Program activities are detailed below
The Program activities are defined in the Suzano Ecological Restoration Management Manual. They are generally distributed into implementation (key activities) and maintenance/monitoring packages. In the implementation package, the methods employed are:
- Passive restoration
- Conducting natural regeneration
- Planting of native species
- Intercropping
- Nucleation
- Direct seeding
- Control of exotic/invasive
After the key activities are completed in the "to be restored" areas, they move into the "in process of restoration" state and are subject to the steps of the maintenance/monitoring package.
The maintenance package comprises activities performed after deployment, such as:
- Fertilization
- Chemical weeding and mowing
- Crowning
- Ant control
- Replanting
- Adaptive management (planting densification and enrichment)
- Among others until the area is considered restored
The need for the maintenance package activities is determined by the operational and ecological monitoring of the areas, carried out by specialized teams, as described below:
- Operational monitoring: includes quality measurements of native seedlings, planting survival, weed and ant monitoring, and implantation operational quality (soil preparation, planting, and herbicide application results).
- Ecological monitoring: conducted five years after implantation, to evaluate the coverage or density of native trees present in the area, as well as the ecological attributes of the area in the restoration process. Spot satellite images are used for the canopy cover assessment. Plots are allocated for evaluation in areas with more than 70% canopy cover. This monitoring aims to verify if adaptive management activities are needed to correct the area's ecological trajectory. The main activities are densification and enrichment planting, but activities such as control of exotic and invasive species, and cover fertilization, among others, may also be recommended.
Thus, the Suzano Ecological Restoration Program has contributed to increasing the Brazilian native vegetation coverage and reducing environmental impacts, along with the adaptive capacity of these environments to climate change.
You can find the following information in the tables below:
- Total size of areas in the restoration process by forest stewardship unit
- Total number of seedlings planted for restoration by forest stewardship unit
- Size of the areas with restoration process started by forest stewardship unit
Total size of areas in the restoration process by forest stewardship unit¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| km² | km² | km² | |
|
São Paulo |
118.16 |
121.72 |
124.04 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
6.38 |
6.38 |
9.27 |
|
Espírito Santo-Bahia |
204.40 |
221.56 |
238.40 |
|
Maranhão |
1.23 |
1.23 |
1.84 |
|
Total |
330.17 |
350.89 |
373.55 |
1. The amounts represent the total size of areas in the restoration process under Suzano management up to the year reported, by the forestry business unit, regardless of the stage of restoration the areas are in.
Total number of seedlings planted for restoration by forest stewardship unit¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| overall number | overall number | overall number | |
|
São Paulo |
390,000 |
390,000 |
390,000 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
49,800 |
49,800 |
50,897 |
|
Espírito Santo - Bahia |
9,980,217 |
10,762,147 |
11,646,054 |
|
Maranhão |
15,200 |
15,200 |
15,700 |
|
Total |
10,435,217 |
11,217,147 |
12,102,651 |
- The numbers represent the accumulated result of the period in question. The planting of seedlings started in the following years:
- São Paulo Unit: 2010
- Espírito Santo-Bahia Unit: 2010
- Mato do Grosso do Sul Unit: 2014 and in 2018
Size of the areas with restoration process started by forest stewardship unit.¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
São Paulo |
2.88 |
3.56 |
2.32 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
0.00 |
0.00 |
2.89 |
|
Espírito Santo-Bahia |
2.10 |
17.16 |
16.85 |
|
Maranhão |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.61 |
|
Total |
4.99 |
20.72 |
22.67 |
- Only restoration areas implemented in 2022 were considered for this indicator, i.e., areas where the restoration process was started. Thus, this indicator does not include areas of maintenance and monitoring implemented.