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Good practice Imported

Tijuca Forest & Refloresta Rio — Continuous Urban Reforestation to Protect Rio de Janeiro's Water Supply Since 1861

Brazil · Rio de Janeiro · See the Brazil profile · See the Rio de Janeiro profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 58% 40/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

After coffee-plantation deforestation dried up Rio's springs, an 1861 ordinance ordered replanting of the Tijuca massif. The city's Refloresta Rio program continues that work: 3,400+ hectares restored and 10 million native seedlings planted since 1986.

10 million+
Seedlings planted (Refloresta Rio, since 1986)
3,400+ hectares
Area reforested
300 people
Paid community workers employed
Tijuca Forest & Refloresta Rio — Continuous Urban Reforestation to Protect Rio de Janeiro's Water Supply Since 1861

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente e Clima do Rio de Janeiro (SMAC) / ICMBio
Period
1861-present
Keywords
urban forestry, watershed protection, reforestation, national parks

Context

After early-1800s coffee-plantation clearing dried the springs feeding Rio de Janeiro's water supply, an 1861 imperial ordinance began replanting the Tijuca massif; the city's Refloresta Rio programme has continued the work since 1986.

Results

As of its 35th anniversary, Refloresta Rio had planted over 10 million seedlings of 273 native species across more than 3,400 hectares, employing roughly 300 paid community workers, though funding has proven unstable — the workforce was cut from about 470 to 260 during a 2021 budget contingency — and no modern hydrological study quantifying the forest's water-retention benefit was found.

Conclusions

The original 19th-century replanting was carried out substantially by enslaved and freed laborers; a 2024 Rio de Janeiro state law formally recognised 11 of them by name as heroes and heroines of the state.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Rio de Janeiro municipal environment secretariat (Refloresta Rio / Mutirão Reflorestamento), About 300 paid community workers drawn from reforested neighbourhoods

Conditions for success

  • Multi-decade continuity of the municipal replanting programme

Common failure modes

  • Unstable municipal funding led to workforce cuts during the 2021 budget contingency

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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