In 2012, before being acquired by BAT Brasil, Souza Cruz asked us to do a market study for biodiversity in agricultural chains in southern Brazil.

As part of its strategy, Souza Cruz aimed to increase environmental awareness of preservation in its tobacco production areas.

In partnership with SPVS – Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education, it developed a program to incorporate management practices favorable to biodiversity conservation.

The focus was on agricultural properties located in the Mata das Araucárias, an ecosystem belonging to the Atlantic Forest biome that occupies a large part of the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

A biodiversity conservation program is a set of strategies, actions and policies developed to protect, preserve and manage biological diversity in a given environment, be it local, regional, national or global.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms (such as plants, animals, microorganisms) and the ecosystems in which they live.

The main purpose of a biodiversity conservation program is:

Preserve Biological Diversity: Prevent the extinction of species, the degradation of habitats and the loss of genetic variability, ensuring the long-term survival of different forms of life.

Furthermore, biodiversity conservation programs can also have secondary objectives, such as:

Promote the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources: Ensure that natural resources are used responsibly and sustainably, so as not to harm future generations or the ability of ecosystems to regenerate.
Restore Degraded Ecosystems: Recover natural areas that have been damaged or degraded due to human activities, such as deforestation, pollution or mining.
Education and Awareness: Involve the local community and the general public in raising awareness about the importance of biodiversity and promoting conservation practices.
Scientific Research: Conduct research to better understand biodiversity and ecosystems, identify threats, and develop more effective conservation strategies.
International Collaboration: Biodiversity conservation often transcends borders and requires international cooperation to protect migratory species, shared ecosystems and areas of great importance for biodiversity.

To implement an effective biodiversity conservation program, several steps are usually required.

Such as identifying priority areas for conservation, developing management plans, regulating activities that may threaten biodiversity and continuous monitoring to assess progress and make adjustments as necessary.

So that they could optimize resources, Souza Cruz contracted the market study with V&F’s team of agro sector specialists to map the agribusiness context in the southern region of Brazil.

To support Souza Cruz’s decision-making, all agricultural chains in southern Brazil were mapped and analyzed. And based on a stratification of indicators and associated criteria, 3 chains were prioritized to be studied in detail.

Detailed research with the prioritized chains allowed the identification of needs for better targeting of the program’s actions. And it also mapped the main players and interested parties to guide awareness activities.

The results then made it possible to not only focus on the biodiversity preservation actions of the Souza Cruz program. But they also optimized all the resources applied to increase the impact of the actions implemented.

It is important to highlight that biodiversity conservation is not just a matter of preserving the world’s natural beauty, but is also crucial to ensuring food security, health, environmental resilience and climate stability, among other benefits that healthy ecosystems provide. the humanity.

Therefore, biodiversity conservation programs play a fundamental role in protecting our planet and its diverse forms of life.