Ecological Restoration Program
Suzano believes that ecological restoration is a commitment and responsibility of the company in the regions where it operates. To meet the legal requirements, certification requirements, and voluntary commitments, the company has been carrying out the Ecological Restoration Program since 2010, which covers the Amazon, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forest biomes, working in all of its forestry business units.
Many exemplary projects have been implemented to restore degraded areas in Brazil. In the case of Suzano, one of the country's largest pulp and paper companies, we have invested in projects to replant and restore our degraded areas. The company's Ecological Restoration Program seeks to significantly increase connectivity between existing forest fragments, promote the formation of ecologically representative conservation area networks in all the territories where it is implemented, and guarantee legal compliance with rural properties included in its production process.
In 2020, Suzano's Ecological Restoration Program was recognized by the UN as one of Brazil's 15 most transformative projects in terms of economic, social and environmental sustainability. The case presented was also selected as one of the six highlights among more than 5,000 entries. Experts in sustainable development made the selection from the UN-linked Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea, for its Portuguese acronym) and the federal government. The group evaluated 131 studies, of which 66 cases were chosen to make up the "Big Push for Sustainability" repository. Suzano's program was also recognized as a good practice in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and was included in the publication Inspiring Examples to Drive Change.
The program promotes 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, and pollination. For more details, see the indicator “Optimizing opportunities for ecosystem services provided by forest areas“.
Suzano's Ecological Restoration Management Manual defines the general guidelines and procedures for the Ecological Restoration Program, which are described as planning, diagnosis, implementation, maintenance, and monitoring.
The restoration planning of areas is defined based on legal deadlines for license conditions, Environmental Restoration Commitment Terms (TCRA), and Degraded Area Restoration Plans (PRAD), as well as the logistics of operations and/or proximity to farms.
In the diagnostic stage, each area's environmental and land use situation is characterized. This can be done in the field and/or through remote sensing techniques, using drones, satellite images, and Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), among other technologies. Based on the results, the areas' resilience potential is assessed to support the choice of the appropriate implementation method for each area.
In the implementation phase, the activities take place for an area to be considered "in the process of restoration". The method to be applied is determined in the diagnostic phase and is defined based on the area's level of degradation, its capacity for self-regeneration, and the identification and management of its degradation factors.
In order to carry out the restoration processes efficiently and consistently, Suzano continually seeks technical recommendations that will guarantee the successful recovery of our areas. Based on these recommendations, we constantly revise our technical management lists. The restoration methodology adopted varies according to the area's level of degradation and its capacity for self-regeneration (resilience potential).
The methodologies that can be used are:
- Total planting: planting native species seedlings in a total area, carried out in areas without natural regeneration. A process similar to eucalyptus silviculture;
- Planting native species together with eucalyptus: The Brazilian Forest Code allows the restoration of Legal Reserves (LR) using commercial silvicultural planting in 50% of the area to be restored (currently, this methodology is only permitted in Espírito Santo);
- Direct sowing: carried out in areas without natural regeneration. It can be done by sowing several species together or using a drone, and is an innovative ecological restoration technique that uses drones to disperse seeds in degraded areas, especially those that are difficult to access;
- Nucleation: planting strips of vegetation (occupying 50% of the area with planting native species in strips). The strip without planting will begin to regenerate over time. The methodology is applied in areas of exposed soil, pasture, and sparse dirty pasture without abundant regeneration;
- Control of exotic/invasive species: a key activity that seeks to reduce the dispersal of propagules and the dominance of the environment by these species, as well as reducing the incidence of newly invaded areas (removal of seedlings or trees);
- Conducting natural regeneration: works to remove exotic species such as brachiaria grass (mowing and weeding) or Pinus sp. and Acacia spp. trees, thus making room for native plants to grow;
- Passive restoration: isolating the area to remove the degradation factors, thus preventing the movement of livestock, people, and productive activities.
- Adaptive management: a new intervention is required if the restoration does not develop as expected. In this case, adaptive management, which could be enrichment or densification, will be carried out. The need for adaptive management comes from the monitoring stages of the restoration areas.
The maintenance phase includes a set of cultural treatments to ensure the survival of regenerating plants or those derived from seeds or seedlings. In this phase, activities such as planting fertilizer, chemical weeding and mowing can occur. The activities to be carried out are defined during the monitoring phase.
To correct the ecological trajectory of the area after detecting an unsatisfactory indicator and improve the techniques and methodologies used, Suzano has a monitoring plan for restoration areas structured in two types: operational (or silvicultural) monitoring and ecological monitoring.
Operational monitoring aims to ensure the quality standards of the operations carried out. It includes measures of native seedling quality, planting survival, weed and ant monitoring, and the operational quality of implementation (soil preparation, planting, and herbicide application results).
Ecological monitoring, on the other hand, aims to assess the ecological attributes of areas undergoing restoration to see if there is a need to carry out adaptive management activities (densification planting, enrichment, and others) to correct the local ecological trajectory, as well as to indicate the extent to which they can be considered "restored". The areas of the sample blocks where the reference values for restoration defined in state legislation or in the company's standard are reached will be considered restored, which may also consider landscape indicators in addition to the previously described parameters.
Suzano's Ecological Restoration Program has thus contributed to increasing the coverage of native vegetation in Brazil, reducing environmental impacts, and improving the adaptive capacity of these environments to climate change.
The following data is available in the tables below:
- Total size of areas undergoing restoration by forest management unit;
- Total number of seedlings planted for restoration per forest management unit;
- Size of areas with restoration processes underway by forest management unit.
Total size of areas undergoing restoration by forest management unit¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Espírito Santo/Bahia |
204,40 |
221,56 |
238,40 |
254,86 |
278,75 |
|
Maranhão² |
1,23 |
1,23 |
1,84 |
2,88 |
10,57 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
6,38 |
6,38 |
9,27 |
9,98 |
12,62 |
|
São Paulo |
118,16 |
121,72 |
124,04 |
128,80 |
146,39 |
|
Total amount |
330,17 |
350,89 |
373,55 |
396,51 |
448,32 |
- The figures represent the total size of areas in the restoration process under Suzano's management up to the year reported by forestry business unit, regardless of the stage of restoration the areas are at. Our restoration process is evaluated by independent external experts representing environmental agencies. We also undergo annual forest management certification audits, which attest to our forest management and restoration practices.
- In recent years, there has been little restoration work at the Maranhão site. In 2024, we began the necessary work there and hope to maintain the same pace in the coming years.
Total number of seedlings planted for restoration per forest management unit¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| número total | número total | número total | número total | número total | |
|
Espírito Santo/Bahia |
9.980.217 |
10.762.147 |
11.646.054 |
12.864.926 |
14.244.037 |
|
Maranhão |
15.200 |
15.200 |
15.700 |
17.200 |
19.200 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
49.800 |
49.800 |
50.897 |
56.444 |
88.544 |
|
São Paulo |
390.000 |
390.000 |
390.000 |
390.000 |
395.900 |
|
Total amount |
10.435.217 |
11.217.147 |
12.102.651 |
13.328.570 |
14.747.681 |
- The figures represent the accumulated result for the period in question. The planting of seedlings began in the following years:
- The Espírito Santo/Bahia Unit: 2010;
- Maranhão Unit: 2018;
- Mato Grosso do Sul Unit: 2014;
- São Paulo Unit: 2010.
Size of areas with restoration processes underway by forest management unit¹
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Espírito Santo/Bahia |
2,10 |
17,16 |
16,85 |
16,45 |
23,89 |
|
Maranhão |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,61 |
1,04 |
7,69 |
|
Mato Grosso do Sul |
0,00 |
0,00 |
2,89 |
0,71 |
2,64 |
|
São Paulo |
2,88 |
3,56 |
2,32 |
4,76 |
17,59 |
|
Total amount |
4,99 |
20,72 |
22,67 |
22,95 |
51,81 |
- For this indicator, only restoration areas implemented in the year indicated in the columns were considered, i.e., areas where the restoration process was started. Therefore, this indicator does not include maintenance and monitoring areas.