2023-09-21 19:07:59
The BBF Group (Brazil BioFuels), which operates in sustainable agribusiness from palm cultivation, biotechnology, biofuel production and renewable energy generation, is committed to planting more than 40 million palm, cocoa and açaí trees in the Amazon region until 2030. Today, more than 11 million palm trees are cultivated by the BBF Group, which annually capture around 729 thousand tons of carbon in Pará and 71 thousand tons of carbon in Roraima. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that the Legal Reserve areas protected by the BBF Group store around 26.6 million tons of carbon in Pará and around 3.1 million tons of carbon in Roraima.
The sustainable cultivation carried out by the BBF Group pursues the purpose of contributing to the decarbonization of the Amazon region. Currently, the company cultivates more than 75 thousand hectares of palm in Pará and Roraima. The company’s plan is already to cultivate an additional 100,000 hectares of palm by 2026, representing a large increase in the number of oil palm trees planted in the region. The BBF Group also began investing in the Agroforestry System this year, with the joint planting of cocoa and açaí together with palm. By 2030, 30 thousand hectares with cocoa and açaí should be planted in Roraima and Pará, which will make the company the largest individual cocoa producer in the world.
“Cocoa and açaí are native species of the Amazon, with high carbon capture power. It is a great satisfaction that we are recovering degraded areas in the Amazon region, contributing to the environment, offering innovative solutions for the decarbonization of the forest, in addition to uniting social development in vulnerable regions and generating employment and income in these places”, says the CEO of Grupo BBF, Milton Steagall.
Cultivation in degraded areas and generation of employment and income
The sustainable cultivation of palm in the Amazon region is an example that combines the recovery of the biome, the replacement of fossil raw materials with renewable ones, in addition to the generation of jobs and income for the local population.
“Oil palm can only be cultivated in degraded areas of the Amazon until December 2007, as this cultivation follows the Agroecological Zoning of Oil Palm, established by the decree 7,172 of the Federal Government and considered one of the strictest legislations in the world in this area. It is still a perennial crop that cannot be mechanized and generates thousands of jobs in the countryside. Cocoa and açaí are plants that will be cultivated by the BBF Group in areas where palm cannot be planted, according to Agro-environmental Zoning. Just like palm trees, the cultivation of these trees cannot be mechanized, which will bring great gains in hiring labor in remote areas of the Amazon”, concludes Steagall.
The BBF Group has the capacity to produce more than 200 thousand tons of palm oil annually and generates around 7 thousand direct jobs and 21 thousand indirect jobs, in addition to encouraging more than 400 family farmers in the state of Pará.
Sustainable planting in practice
For all this to happen in practice, the BBF Group follows a model of good environmental management practices with high efficiency in production processes. An example of this is the use of 100% natural and organic fertigation. The water from cooking palm fruits, rich in vitamins and nutrients, returns through fertigation to the planting areas, as a sustainable alternative for the necessary cultural treatments of the palm.
The company also composts in its cultivation areas, using organic fertilizer prepared from the decomposition of waste from empty palm clusters and effluents from the production process.
“To ensure the lowest possible impact of our operations on the environment and surrounding communities, we carry out a strict continuous monitoring program, which follows indicators established by the National Environmental Council (Conama). Our operation is also in line with the best international practices for sustainable palm management”, explains Steagall.
To fulfill the objective of participating effectively in the conservation of biodiversity in the Amazon Region and recovery of Degraded Areas, the BBF Group adopts monitoring in all areas with the adoption of the best alternative for the environmental rehabilitation of each location.
Among the monitoring programs, priority areas are identified for plant recovery or restoration. To this end, projects are carried out that prioritize the use of native species, considering the preparation of seedlings, the maintenance of revegetated areas, the afforestation of farm villages in agro-industrial hubs, the recovery of deposit areas altered by laterite exploration, the survey of producers local and preferably family farms for partnerships, in addition to carrying out an intense employee awareness program and encouraging partner farmers to maintain sustainable land use, without using fire to clear the area.
Furthermore, the company develops the Solid Waste Program, adopting the Solid Waste Management Plan with monitoring of operational procedures for segregation at source, collection, storage, transportation and final disposal.
Another difference for the BBF Group’s planting areas is the Water Resources Management Program, which follows the National Water Resources Policy, in the management and monitoring of water sources, encouraging conscious consumption, respecting the granted abstraction limits. Additionally, effluent treatment and reuse of effluents are carried out in its process in a cyclical manner with reuse, being a good environmental practice, reducing dependence on mineral fertilizers and promoting the incorporation of organic matter into the soil.
“Environmental responsibility is a fundamental pillar for the BBF Group. In addition to existing cultivation, by 2030, the BBF Group plans to plant an additional 100 thousand hectares of palm in the Amazon region, recovering more forest areas that were degraded in the past”, says Steagall.
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