Through this initiative, which prioritizes the use of macaúba coconuts produced in agroforestry systems, inmates have the opportunity to reduce their sentences and contribute to a sustainable production system
INOCAS, a partner company of Fundo Vale as part of Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal, is developing a project to rehabilitate convicts in collaboration with the Association to Protect and Assist Convicts (APAC) in the municipalities of Patos de Minas, Arcos and Frutal in Minas Gerais. In exchange for breaking up macaúba coconuts, around 100 inmates are paid by the company while reducing their sentences: for every three days they work, one day is removed from their sentence.
The initiative helps promote the social reintegration of individuals who are still in the prison system, as well as contributing to the macaúba palm tree production cycle. Breaking up these coconuts is a fundamental stage in extracting their seeds, which after germination becomes seedlings to be planted.
The program’s participants go through a structured selection process, which reflects APAC’s commitment to effective and humane rehabilitation. For the inmates, the initiative represents an opportunity for change, allowing them to regain their dignity through work and gain new prospects for the future.
“APAC’s humanized model, which values the dignity and recovery of inmates, is perfectly in line with our values. This initiative gives these people a new chance and helps continue an environmentally responsible production cycle with great potential in the bioeconomy,” said Johannes Zimpel, INOCAS’ executive director.
Partnership with Fundo Vale
Fundo Vale is supporting INOCAS in an initiative that aims to strengthen the macaúba palm tree production chain as a solution for restoring habitat. The program consists of implementing agroforestry and agro-silvopastoral systems in areas of Pará, Minas Gerais and São Paulo. The strategy seeks to contribute to the maintenance of carbon stocks in forests, habitat restoration and local socioeconomic development.
The initiative is part of Vale’s 2030 Forest Goal, a voluntary commitment to protect 400,000 hectares of forest and restore 100,000 hectares outside the company’s sites by 2030. To recover these areas, Vale relies on Fundo Vale, which promotes businesses based on sustainable crop farming, cattle ranching and forestry practices that have the potential to gain scale and generate positive social and environmental impacts.