Twenty years ago, the partnership between Natura and Embrapa was born from a common desire to unite science, innovation, and biodiversity. Since then, different cooperation projects between the two companies have shown that it is possible to use technical-scientific knowledge to generate models of sustainable development, benefiting the entire chain involved.
The collaboration began with Embrapa Genetic Resources and Biotechnology in Brasília, aiming to obtain genetic data that could support conservation and sustainable management plans for two species used by Natura and essential for both the Brazilian bioeconomy and the communities that depend on them: the green mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and the Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa), classified as endangered species.
The studies were conducted in various locations and states, including the areas for Brazil nut and green mate production for Natura: the Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve in Amapá and the Ervateira Putinguense in Rio Grande do Sul. Several Embrapa units were also involved in these projects - Lucia Helena de Oliveira Wadt (Embrapa Acre) was responsible for the Brazil nut studies, and Valderes de Sousa (Embrapa Floresta) was the reference for the studies on mate herb.
The joint work contributed to expanding knowledge about these species. Furthermore, it paved the way for future initiatives: Natura providing resources, knowledge in innovation, and socio-environmental commitment, and Embrapa bringing its expertise in agricultural and forestry research applied to the Brazilian territory.
The challenge of palm oil and the agroforestry response
The partnership continued with an ambitious challenge initiated by Natura in Tomé-Açu (Pará): to transform, for the first time, the monoculture of palm oil, typically associated with environmental and social concerns, into diversified agroforestry systems.
The work was done in partnership with Embrapa Western Amazon, @Embrapa Eastern Amazon, and CAMTA - Cooperativa Agrícola Mista de Tomé-Açu (Mixed Agricultural Cooperative of Tomé-Açu). Over the fifteen years of research, it also received support from other Embrapa units as well as other research institutions.
“Natura challenged us to rethink the traditional model, proposing that palm oil be cultivated alongside other species, such as açaí and cocoa,” recalls Wenceslau Teixeira, a researcher at Embrapa Soils. “The project was so successful that it consolidated and is expanding. It is emblematic because it proved that agroforestry systems can not only work but also be economically viable.”
Débora Castellani, Scientific Manager of Advanced Research at Natura and responsible for the project during the 15 years of research, states that the results are consequences of the good choices made. “The agroecological management of the Palm Oil Agroforestry System (SAF Dendê), the high diversity of species present in the system, and the constant adoption of regenerative practices were fundamental for the good results obtained in the field, which showed an increase in functional biodiversity, high productivity, and the potential to generate income through numerous products beyond palm oil,” she asserts.
Even with fewer palm oil trees per hectare than in monoculture, the Palm Oil Agroforestry System achieved higher productivity - 180 kg of fruit bunches per plant compared to 139 kg (in the 11th year). The oil content per bunch was also higher in the SAF, according to studies that focused on the direct measurement of the fruit.
For Steel Vasconcelos, who currently works at Embrapa Forests but was at Embrapa Eastern Amazon when he worked on the Palm Oil Agroforestry System project, one of the merits of the project lies in its systemic approach. “The goal has always been to develop a system that is technically, environmentally, economically, and socially viable. The Palm Oil Agroforestry System continues to show that this model is possible.”
Article published in 2024 in the scientific journal “Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change” and signed by researchers from Embrapa and Natura, among others, concludes that palm oil agroforestry systems have a greater potential to store carbon in the soil and, consequently, contribute more to mitigating climate change than monocultures of the fruit.
According to Teixeira, this is a model that can be replicated in other biomes and directly aligns with low-carbon agriculture policies.
The blue carbon of mangroves
Since 2024, Natura and Embrapa have been looking together at an ecosystem internationally recognized as a globally important wetland: mangroves. Brazil hosts the second-largest area of mangroves in the world and the largest continuous stretch of mangroves on the planet, covering the states of Amapá, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, and Ceará.
“Mangroves are extremely relevant for their numerous ecosystem services, such as food production, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and protection against erosion and rising sea levels, among others,” says Castellani. “The choice to dedicate ourselves to them is part of a vision focused on sustainable innovation.”
The teams have been working in partnership with two extractive reserves in Pará, the Mãe Grande de Curuçá Reserve (in the municipality of Curuçá) and the Mestre Lucindo Marine Reserve (in the municipality of Marapanim), to study these environments, generate data about them, and develop ecological indicators that also contribute to their conservation.
Steel Vasconcelos from Embrapa states that mangroves have enormous potential to store what is called blue carbon, which is specific to marine ecosystems. “The water regime greatly reduces the decomposition of organic matter, so carbon accumulates especially in the soil. One of the project's missions is to measure and report how much carbon this mangrove stores, to obtain an environmental indicator and the valuation of the environmental services of this ecosystem both by the communities themselves and by the public authorities,” he says.
The studies of the Natura-Embrapa partnership have the potential to support public policies for environmental protection, according to Teixeira. “Research like this shows the value of ecosystems that are often rendered invisible and can inform decisions of governments that are open to policies with significant social and environmental impact,” he adds.
This year, the Management Committee of the Ramsar Site Amazon Estuary and its Mangroves was established, an unprecedented strategy aimed at protecting the entire area. Under Ramsar Site status, wetlands become subject to commitments to be fulfilled by the country and have priority in the implementation of government policies and public recognition.
As they are complex systems, subject to many changes due to tides, it is essential to have the collaboration of local communities to understand how they function. “What is the role of the crab? What is the role of the tides? How do these plants behave at different times? Community participation is fundamental. On the other hand, we are already starting to show some findings to them, such as soil profiles and root distribution. It is a two-way interaction. We learn a lot from the residents, and they also learn a bit from us,” says Vasconcelos.
“We began to understand each other until we spoke the same language, and then one learned from the other,” confirms fisherwoman Maria de Fátima Vieira de Sousa from the Mãe Grande de Curuçá Reserve. “I didn’t know about carbon, how the soil of the mangroves was. I knew that we had to preserve the environment, that if we planted and took care of those trees, we would find more crabs. That’s how we thought. We learned a lot from nature on this side of the research. And I also learned to sense the aroma of flowers, wood bark, and the roots we work with more easily,” she shares.
For Raquel Paixão da Silva, a fisherwoman and alternate counselor of the Mestre Lucindo Reserve, the mangrove project in collaboration with Natura and Embrapa is described as remarkable. “We already had traditional knowledge, but we didn’t know all the richness that the mangrove produces. The research reinforced this perspective. Today I say that we are rich in this unique forest.”
