Brazilian resilience

Julian Fox, Director Nature Programmes, Tetra Pak, speaks to Rob Coker about the ambitious Araucaria Project, which aims to restore 7,000 hectares of lost rainforest in Brazil.

There must be some pretty impressive scientific and academic members joining Tetra Pak in the consortium?

Absolutely, our partners are essential to the success of this initiative. They have the technical and scientific knowledge and expertise necessary for the management and monitoring of all actions and results in the short, medium and long term.

Our leading partner is Apremavi, a civil society organisation working with conservation and restoration projects since 1987 and has planted more than 8.5 million native trees. Apremavi’s long-term expertise has been essential to informing our work. In addition, the seedlings used in the restoration project are all produced in the Apremavi nursery, which has more than 200 native species of the Atlantic Forest.

Other key strategic partners are Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil, both internationally recognised NGOs that bring credibility and knowledge in environmental restoration and carbon offset projects. Both entities have been instrumental in establishing the Conservador da Mantiqueira, an organisation that has promoted the restoration of Serra da Mantiqueira since 2015 in alignment with the Pact for the Restoration of the Atlantic Forest. Representatives from Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Brazil are part of the Stakeholder Board of the Araucaria Conservation programme.

Finally, our supplier and partner Klabin has been heavily involved, acting as a catalyst in this initiative. Klabin has been working with Tetra Pak for several years and is an expert in the execution of environmental restoration programmes, including ‘Matas Legais’ (‘Legal Forests’ – a reference to the legal obligation under the Brazilian Forest Code to maintain 20% of land owned with native vegetation preserved), ‘Matas Socias’ (‘Social Forests’, which is aimed at improving the life of those who live and work on the land ), and another initiative aiming to remove invasive species from to allow natural regeneration. 

What part will Tetra Pak play exactly? What part will you play as director of Nature Programmes at Tetra Pak?

As well as financing the project, Tetra Pak is playing an active role in co-ordinating work that, over ten years, aims to restore at least 7,000 hectares of the Atlantic Forest and certify 13.7 million hectares, equivalent to the area of England. The objective is to facilitate the realisation of other projects of this nature and leave a legacy of environmental conservation of this biome. In my role, I will be responsible for ensuring this is carried out efficiently and that deadlines and targets are met whilst managing stakeholder and partner relations.

There are those outside the packaging industry that may be critical or sceptical of Tetra Pak’s involvement in such a project given the company’s use of materials such as plastics and paper/cardboard. What would your message to those be?

While Tetra Pak does not own or manage any forests or plantations, we want to ensure that biodiversity, healthy ecosystems, high conservation values and responsible management practices exist across all land in our value chain. Therefore, we are committed to sustainable sourcing to protect biodiversity, by means of full traceability, certification and third-party verification, and no direct or indirect negative land use change.

Tetra Pak has been recognised for leadership in corporate sustainability by global environmental non-profit CDP, securing a place on its prestigious ‘A List’ for the third year running for tackling climate change, as well as acting to protect forests – two of the three environmental themes covered by CDP. With this accolade, Tetra Pak cements its position as the only company in the carton packaging sector to be included in the CDP leadership band for six years in a row. CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process is widely recognised as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency.

Looking forward to 2030, we aim to do more. Our goals are to go above and beyond certification and expand partnerships to protect biodiversity, and make a positive impact and lead by example in forest protection and restoration.

We believe a step change is needed, given the rapid deterioration of our planet and the growing population. We also know we cannot resolve this challenge in isolation, and the Araucaria Conservation Programme is a great example of the value of collective action to tackle these issues.

How do you even begin such a gigantic project?

Joining forces with Apremavi, our initial phase will involve mapping, studies and analysis of methodologies to ensure the project is as beneficial, economically, environmentally and socially, to the region as possible. Given the project commits to such scale and ambitious targets, it is fundamental that we start with a pilot and restore a smaller area. This allows us to test our methods, take learnings from the work and implement them later.

With this in mind, we’ve chosen to start by analysing an area of 80 hectares located in the interior of Santa Catarina. Only after the validation of this initial phase will the model be replicated to meet our goal of restoring 7,000 hectares – equivalent to 9,800 football pitches – of the Atlantic Forest until 2030.

The restored areas will be integrated into ecological corridors, as well as providing improvements in biodiversity, soil and increased water availability in the region. Partner landowners will still have support to tailor their properties in compliance with environmental legislation and the opportunity to diversify their income through the Payments for Environmental Services Program and non-timber economic activities, such as the sale of native fruits or the sale of yerba mate leaves.

We will also certify a much broader territory under international voluntary carbon and biodiversity standards. The certification will measure carbon sequestration, meaning the project will play a key role in Tetra Pak’s commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations by 2030. The aim is for this territory to reach up to 13.7 million hectares – an area the size of England – and encourage other organisations to join the initiative. 

Has the project met with any opposition from landowners concerned about a loss of land?

We developed this initiative with a strong commitment to long-term social benefits for local communities and we see it as a partnership in which they are heavily involved. This means we have prioritised the support of landowners every step of the way and have worked with Apremavi to mitigate any concerns landowners might have.

In the long run, the restored areas will also bring improvements from a biodiversity perspective, concerning the quality of soil and water availability in the region, with the potential to unlock even greater employment and income opportunities. In fact, restoration is one of the most accessible ways for farmers to adapt environmentally and legally with possibilities of generating income from the commercialisation of forest products.

How else do you intend to promote awareness of this project and how can those interested keep an eye on its progress?

Our progress on the Araucaria Conservation Programme will be reported annually via our Sustainability Report, together with the creation and allocation of carbon credits generated through the project. This project should be an example of forest protection and restoration that other organisations can use as inspiration, demonstrating the value of collective action in tackling complex and intertwined issues such as climate and biodiversity.

The next updates will focus on progress with the pilot restoration of 80 hectares, the certification to Verra Voluntary Carbon and Climate, Community & Biodiversity standards, and the building of the pipeline of participating landowners. Expect also to see this programme showcased in August in the CDP Forests Nature Positive Challenge, as part of our efforts to attract other funding partners and expand the area to be restored even beyond our ambitious scope of 7,000 hectares.