Conservation of the Caatinga: The role of local communities in restoring the Brazilian semi-arid region

In the Northeast of Brazil, the semi-arid region called the Caatinga faces long periods of drought, and in some extreme cases, parts of the region go almost seven months without rain. While the predominant vegetation of the Caatinga is adapted to aridity and is made up of shrubs and xerophytic plants, which naturally seek to store water, the lack of rain is still often a challenge for the land and its people.

The increasing periods without rainfall are a major concern for those who depend on the land for their livelihoods. As rainfall is concentrated in three to four irregular months, usually from late November to early April, agriculture, livestock farming and the local way of life are completely influenced by the the amount of water in our semi-arid climate. 

Hi, my name is Maria Geane Bastos and I work with agroforestry and agroecology alongside my community to restore my beautiful homelands. The mission of preserving the biodiversity of this ecosystem is extremely challenging due to the low rainfall and high evaporation rate due to the high temperatures. Significant exposure to the sun also results in a negative water balance, making water even more scarce. 

In addition to being more susceptible to extreme weather events, the Caatinga suffers from degradation from deforestation for agricultural production, uncontrolled cattle raising and mining. Faced with this complicated scenario, agroforestry systems could be a way of preserving this important biome.

Agroforestry systems as a way of resisting  degradation 

The power of agroforestry systems is readily apparent in my community in Quilombo Lagoas, in the state of Piauí, which is currently suffering from the expansion of mining activities in our territory. Agroforestry initiatives are helping to reforest degraded areas in the Quilombo, and these same practices have allowed our community to become the largest producer of organic honey in Piauí.

          Reforestation area in Quilombo Lagoas.  Photo: Maria Geane Bastos.

My brother, Gean Bastos, and I are reforesting degraded areas of our property and trying to motivate other people in our community to work on restoring their land. Our efforts have also gone beyond the fences of our property: with the support of BrazilFoundation, we are working on implementating agroforestry systems in three territorial nuclei, located in the municipalities of São Raimundo Nonato, Paulistana and Canto do Buriti. Five agroforestry systems will be implemented in these nuclei in collaboration with local producers who will hopefully serve as multipliers of sustainable practices in their communities. 

The three municipalities in our program are also served by the Association of Agroecological Producers of the Semi-Arid Region of Piauí (APASPI), a participatory organic certification association. The association, with 180 participating families, aims to help local producers obtain organic certification, increasing their market opportunities by providing low-cost, sustainable certification for their agricultural production.

We believe that implementing agroforestry systems in these communities will serve as a model for other projects like ours to emerge and flourish. These efforts are spaces for building solidarity between rural producers, through weekly online meetings and exchange programs between the farmers to train them and discuss the implementation of agroforestry systems. This strengthens the exchange of knowledge among communities and promotes more sustainable farming techniques. 

Nurturing local transformation networks

              Online meeting with partner farmers. Photo: Gean Bastos.

As part of our efforts to expand the reach of agroforestry practices in the Caatinga, I had the pleasure of holding talks with representatives of communities involved in the BrazilFoundation project. In these digital sessions, I shared about my experience with agroforestry and its importance for the preservation of the Caatinga, and perhaps most importantly, I discussed how agroforestry can help people produce food while conserving local biodiversity.

On a practical level, we are producing seedlings of native and forage plants to restore a degraded area of our property.  To encourage more people from Quilombo Lagoas to take part in this wave of transformation, we have built a nursery with an automated water pump to make it easier to irrigate the seedlings and  reduce the labor required in this planting process.

Production of native seedlings at the Xique-Xique Agroecological Farm. Photo: Gean Bastos.

 Planting native and non-native species

In the agroforestry system at Fazenda Agroecológica Xique-Xique, we work with a diversity of native and forage plant species to regenerate degraded areas. Through this restoration process, we aim to bring back native vegetation and integrate forage and fruit plants adapted to the region. 

Among the fruit trees, we plant  umbuzeiro (Spondias tuberosa), a plant that symbolizes resilience in the semi-arid region. Its blossom is a vital source of bee fodder during the most critical period of drought, and its fruit, which has a unique flavor, is rich in iron and vitamins, and is a constant presence on the table of the sertanejo farmer (common title for producers of the Brazilian semi-arid region). 

Another important species is the cashew (Anacardium occidentale), which is well adapted to the semi-arid region and whose flowers are also an important source of nectar for bees during the dry season. Its fruit has multiple uses, both the stalk and the nut are valuable for feeding families. We also use ata (Annona squamosa), a seasonal fruit much appreciated in the northeast.

Among the forage species, we work with gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium), a non-native legume plant that offers bee-like flowering during droughts and has great potential for the production of biomass, which can subsequently be used for the sustainable generation of energy or as organic fertilizers. Its pruning helps to cover the soil and fix nitrogen. It is also used as fodder to feed animals. The palm (Opuntia sp), a cactaceous plant highly adapted to the semi-arid region, retains a large amount of water, creating conditions to supply water to the system through pruning and surface roots. 

Among the native species, we highlight the aroeira (Schinus terebinthifolia), a medicinal tree with beekeeping potential, which helps to compose the system’s strata as an emergent plant. The pau-ferro (Caesalpinia ferrea), widely used in traditional medicine, also has highly prized bee flowers, and its pods are used in animal supplementation due to their high mineral content. 

Finally, the ipê (Handroanthus impetiginosus ), in addition to its medicinal value and high-quality wood, is a crucial bee flower during scarcity, at the end of the drought, and is an important source of food for bees.

Xique Xique Farm Agroforestry System. Photo: Gean Bastos

We believe that our pioneering work has the potential to become a transformative reference in our landscape, inspiring more and more people. An example of this is the project developed by APASPI, with the support of Brazilfoundation, which has expanded our work beyond Quilombo Lagoas. We now cover three territorial centers in seven municipalities, spread over three territories in Piauí. This expansion strengthens our mission to promote sustainable agroforestry systems and regenerate degraded areas.