BenB~• (@paraben.bsky.social)

Architects of the forest: Agroforestry in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Close to the border of the Serra do Brigadeiro State Park in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Leandro Santana Moreira stands in the middle of his forest pruning what he himself planted. Leaves, branches, and sometimes whole trees fall to the ground around him. Everything gets pruned: Coffee plants, banana trees, and juçara palms — a close relative of açaí — are just a few of the more than 100 species on Moreira’s farm. After they’ve been cut, the organic material is spread around the root systems to help nourish what continues to grow. The land that Moreira now stands on looks vastly different from when he first began working on it 16 years ago. Back then, it was nothing but a pasture, deforested of its native trees, its soil degraded and abandoned after having been grazed by livestock. Now, it is a lush ecosystem of interspersed crops and native trees that resembles a forest much more than a traditional farm. Moreira’s land offers an example of the sustainable farming practice known as agroforestry. “We work as if we were architects of the forest,” he said, placing down his machete. Agroforestry isn’t what initially drew Moreira to the Serra do Brigadeiro. He... https://planetforward.org/story/agroforestry-minas-gerais/