Project Progress

There has been one month and a half that I have been here in Rio de Janeiro with CI. After, researching a lot, discussing with my coworkers, and constantly updating my strategy, I finally defined the variables I will use to prioritize areas for restoration in the Tome Acu microregion, Para state. This process was long because I didn’t have a reference study from CI-Brazil of prioritization at the property scale. Previous studies were done for the whole Amazon, which is a very large scale, and many of the methods and data used did not fit into my scale. Something that is helping me a lot is to ask for feedback from my coworkers. As I am constructing a new methodology and in a very short period, it was great to ask for feedback from people in the office. They provided me with very good additions to my project. Now I have a group of variables that I believe will predict the most important areas for restoration in the project.

I divided the prioritization variables into four categories:

Natural Regeneration: This category is very key because natural regeneration is considered the number-one solution to restore landscapes. Not only because it is cheaper than active restoration, which includes seed or tree planting, but it is also suggested to be more successful than other restoration types. Besides, in an ecosystem like the Amazon that there is still a lot of remnant forests, and therefore, seed sources, the chances of restoration by natural regeneration are higher. The Amazon C+ program tries to take advantage of this potential of the Amazon to make the restoration efforts cheaper. To prioritize natural regeneration, I chose to use two variables: ongoing regeneration and distance to forest fragments of different core sizes. With these two variables, the idea is to prioritize areas that are already regenerating and areas of greater potential to naturally regenerate.

Ecological importance: This category includes landscape connectivity, proximity to water bodies, and species richness. To increase landscape connectivity is one of the big objectives of the project. Another main aim is to restore riparian vegetation in order to guarantee ecosystem service of water regulation.

Social importance: This class comprises population income and water demand. As the restoration project aims to implement agroforestry systems so small property owners can have an additional income source, it is important to prioritize lower-income areas. Also, areas of higher demand for water for human consumption are another relevant variable to prioritize riparian areas for restoration.

Deforestation drivers: When thinking about areas for restoration, it is important to consider the main deforestation predictors of the region so we don’t choose to restore an area of great potential to be deforested after. In the Amazon, the two main deforestation drivers are proximities to roads and urban centers, which are the two variables for this category.

In order to ponder which variables are more important than others, I am using the method Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) which enables us to decide on a participative way different weights to each variable. Yesterday, we had a meeting and we set weights to all the variables. Now, I can finally run the analysis and generate the maps of prioritized areas for restoration and finish my main product. I can’t wait to see this product ready.

Struggles

I am using Arc GIS to run my analyses and generate data. If by one side I am loving it because I am learning a lot, on the other side, I feel that I am spending a lot of time learning with my mistakes. Many times I had to redo my analyses because I realized I used the wrong tool or inapropriated data. Arc GIS is a lot about Geography and I miss a stronger background in it. At the same time, I am becoming much more critic about which data and tool I should use, and how to better process analyses,.

Working environment

It is the first time I am working for an NGO and I am really enjoying it. CI-Brazil people are very friendly. We have lunch together, they are interested in my work, and they are willing to help me. It may be a bias of this office in specific but I am enjoying a lot so far this experience working for an NGO. Also, I feel well prepared with the background I acquired during our master’s course.  I felt that we gained multiple skills that an NGO like CI needs. This feeling is very rewarding! Makes me think I made the right choice!

In the meanwhile

During the weekends, I try to spend my time exploring Rio! I became very in love for this city! Although Rio is a big city and has the same problems as any big city, Rio, on the other hand, is full of nature. There are beautiful beaches, a lot of trails to hike with amazing views, and you find some breathtaking views in middle of the city due to its hilly landscape.

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Moving forward

I have more two weeks in Rio de Janeiro and then I am heading to Arlington to stay for a week at CI headquarters. This week I am presenting my results to my host supervisors here and then, for the last weeks, I will be incorporating feedback and writing the product.

The time is going super fast but I am very motivated to conclude my products!

Wish me luck!