This conservation project covers an extensive area in the Central Corridor of the Atlantic Forest, the Doce River Basin, and regions of the Guandu River Basin in Rio de Janeiro state and the Paraíba Valley.

It is a strategic region, with the highest biodiversity on the planet, and where we have several partners and projects with the capacity to give scale to the restoration work.

It is also in that region that TNC has participated from the beginning in the development of the Reflorestar Program, one of the most robust forest restoration projects in Brazil, led by the state of Espírito Santo. The program allocates 3% of oil royalties annually to fund forest restoration and conservation projects in the state. Espírito Santo has pledged to restore 80,000 hectares by 2020 as part of the 20 × 20 initiative. TNC´s contribution includes the development of model mapping, monitoring, and forest restoration (PERF) contracts, in addition to the design of a web system that has allowed operational improvements of 400% in the state (in terms of operating income).

In Bahia state, TNC worked with restoration projects in permanent preservation areas to form ecological corridors: Monte Pascoal Corridor – Pau Brasil, and Caraíva Carbono. 

In Minas Gerais, TNC developed forest restoration projects in partnership with the Bolsa Verde Program managed by the state government in the Zona da Mata, the Papagaio and Cipó Mountains, and the Jequitinhonha Valley. The region is home to numerous Conservation Units and the springs of the main rivers forming the basin of the Grande and Doce Rivers, responsible for supplying large urban centers in southern Minas Gerais.