Check out the Forest Goal’s results in 2024 and expectations for the year of COP30
Fundo Vale continues to make progress in delivering on Vale’s commitment to restore 100,000 hectares of land by the end of the decade, as set out in the 2030 Forest Goal, which also seeks to protect 400,000 hectares of habitat in the same period. In 2024, the businesses supported by Fundo Vale began to restore more than 5,829 hectares.
Since 2020, the Forest Goal has covered 18,443 hectares, spread across different Brazilian biomes and states, reaffirming its strategic role in restoring ecosystems and tackling climate change. More than R$222 million has been invested in this initiative to date, including over R$35 million in non-financial support offered to businesses to strengthen their social and environmental impacts, organizational capacity, impact management ability and financial sustainability.
Between 2021 and 2024, the Forest Goal directly and indirectly benefited more than 4,000 people through the implementation of different sustainable systems, such as diversified forestry, agroforestry systems, integrated crop, livestock and forest systems, and assisted natural regeneration.
“In 2024, we continued to pursue our commitment to support habitat restoration, which has reached more than 18,000 hectares in recent years. As well as implementing these sustainable systems, we believe in the importance of strengthening the ecosystem as a whole in order to expand this agenda. That’s why we are continuing with important partnerships to unlock and leverage investments, support research and development initiatives, carry out training and actions to disseminate knowledge, strengthen impact businesses and discuss opportunities that still need public-private investment to achieve sustainable results in the coming years. It was a very challenging year, in which we had to reassess our strategy and area of focus for expansion based on the challenges we encountered. There is still a long way to go, but it is becoming increasingly clear to us how important it is to strengthen this agenda in light of the current climate situation,” said Bia Marchiori, who is responsible for the technical, knowledge, and social and environmental safeguards areas of the 2030 Forest Goal.
Forest protection
Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal recently surpassed 200,000 hectares of protected areas: 115,000 hectares through partnerships between Vale Natural Reserve and conservation areas and another 85,000 hectares financed by the acquisition of carbon credits from a REDD+ project run by ABC Norte. In 2024, Vale expanded its support for this initiative, protecting an additional 35,000 hectares.
Strategic partners: Outlook for 2025
“My expectation is that the Forest Goal will continue on its journey of growth and it will be recognized as an initiative that has significant global, social and economic benefits for ecosystem services and the communities involved,” said Eduardo Trevisan, director of ESG and certifications at Imaflora.
According to Phil Kauders, the CEO of Courageous Land, 2025 will be a milestone year for the expansion of agroforestry and habitat restoration. “We are looking to raise a large amount of capital to accelerate our agroforestry planting, with Fundo Vale as a major catalyst,” he said.
In 2024, with support from Fundo Vale, the company launched its agroforestry intelligence platform, which has already registered farms interested in implementing agroforestry systems across tens of thousands of hectares. This strategy combines technology, operational expertise and partnerships to unlock the great potential of agroforestry on a large scale.
Caaporã Agrossilvipastoril’s prospects for 2025 are also extremely positive. The company plans to expand its areas of operation, especially in northern Tocantins, where it already has an operational hub focused on converting degraded pastureland into intensive silvopastoral systems. Based on well-established models, Caaporã plans to expand these initiatives, seeking new contracts and counting on negotiations with Fundo Vale to drive this growth. In the run-up to COP30 in Brazil, the company aims to position itself as an example of a concrete initiative, in contrast to the paucity of projects actually implemented, as many initiatives have been limited to discussions and planning work.
“Our partnership with Fundo Vale has allowed us to carry out demonstration projects, which are already delivering clear results, restoring land and developing innovative regenerative livestock models. This model is especially promising for Caaporã due to its potential to have a large-scale impact on beef cattle ranching in Brazil,” said the company’s CEO, Luís Fernando Laranja.