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Project 2
Ecological restoration of degraded cattle pastures with an agroforestry-system and native tree species

Dehevehe Sapuyá, as his indigenous name is, lives with his wife, three children and one grandson in a small house not far from Pau Brasil, just behind the border of the reserve. Dehevehe is a math teacher at the reserve's indigenous school and also works at the state school in Pau Brasil, the nearest small town outside the reserve. The salary for teachers in indigenous schools is only a quarter of that of teachers in state schools and is not enough to live on. His property is located in the extreme southeast of the indigenous territory on the Rio Pardo and is about 64 hectares in size. Here he wants to restore the biodiversity of the Mata Atlântica. Part of the land is to be planted with an agroforest system, part with native tree species. His land is degraded, the soil is heavily compacted and leached by cattle grazing. In the valley of a temporarily water-bearing stream, a small piece of forest in the initial stage of succession, a capoeira, was able to assert itself. The development of the forest fragment will not go beyond this stage without support, but it provides shade and can absorb part of the temporarily flowing water. It could be a good starting point for an ecological restoration of the piece of land. Dehevehe has recognized this and is working on the implementation in his free time. He has already built a small house to store tools and laid a water pipe to the river. Now he is starting to fence in 7.5 hectares, the first agroforest is to be planted here. The fence protects against the free-roaming cattle of the neighbors, so the first bushes will soon provide some shade. His vision is that one day he will be able to live off the income from the forest.

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Dehevehe Sapuyá lives with his wife Tati Barbosa, their three children and their first grandson near Pau Brasil, on the edge of the indigenous territory.

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