During the past week, the Port of Açu donated 200 seedlings of restinga species to the Environment Secretary of São João da Barra. A total of 150 seedlings were taken to the municipal nursery, located at the Science Space, in Balneário de Atafona. They will grow there until they are big enough to be planted in public spaces, by the second half of the year. The remaining 50 seedlings were part of an exhibit at the São João da Barra CIEP public school, during the Environment Fair organized by the municipality. At the end of the fair, seedlings were donated to teachers and students who promised to plant and follow the development of the plants they received.
All seedlings were produced in a nursery located in the Port of Açu, beside RPPN Caruara Private Nature Reserve, created and maintained voluntarily by the enterprise. The nursery is dedicated to restinga species and has capacity to produce as much as 500,000 seedlings per year. The nursery currently produces and handles more than 70 restinga species, and more than 1 million seedlings were already produced and planted at the RPPN. Some are in the list of endangered species in Brazil.
“We are very proud of the work that we develop at RPPN Caruara and in the nursery that supplies the preservation area. We have dedicated five years to the restinga ecosystem, which is typical of the region. As in our protection area, our wish is that these seedlings are spread all over the city, contributing to make the city greener and fostering environmental awareness in the population,” said Caio Cunha, Corporate Social Responsibility manager of Prumo Logística, the developer and operator of the Port of Açu.
RPPN Caruara, created in 2012 by the Port of Açu, is the largest private preservation unit dedicated to restinga shrub forest in Brazil, with approximately 4,000 hectares – or almost 4,000 soccer fields and nearly half of the operational area of the Port Complex. The preservation unit carries out plant re-composition work and monitoring of local vegetation and fauna, employing local workers. About 40 local residents work there now.
