Brazil — In the backlands of northern Bahia state nobody ever thought about putting up a fence in the woods According to the tradition that governs fundo de pasto communities the Caatinga dry forest belongs to everyone: Everything there That’s what a fundo de pasto (“back pasture”) precisely is: a shared expanse of native vegetation where community members collectively tend to their goats It has always been like that in Lages das Aroeiras “The Caatinga has died a lot,” says Waldemar Cardoso da Silva under the shade of one of the rare centuries-old imburana trees (Commiphora leptophloeos) still standing in Lages das Aroeiras Same story for the baraúnas (Schinopsis brasiliensis) the quixabeiras (Sideroxylon obtusifolium) “You have to walk a lot to find one.” All of them are large trees “the kinds that hover” as Waldemar defines them with canopies so lush that spotting one house from another was nearly impossible due to the leafy Caatinga of older times a resident of Lages das Aroeiras since he was born it’s presumed that what existed before was a living Caatinga — which challenges the prevailing logic that this rugged territory in northeastern Brazil is a hostile land averse to life Proof to the contrary is that this is the most populous semiarid place in the world Not to mention the vibrant culture that flourished here including 548 bird species and 183 mammal species That is possible because everyone here — plants animals and humans — has learned to coexist with an adverse climate where the sun easily evaporates every drop of water running on the ground plants have developed ways to store water in the dry months improved their roots to capture maximum moisture from the soil and lost their leaves to avoid transpiration — which gives the Caatinga the grayish hue that gave it the original Tupi name If the local human population has been dying of thirst — and hunger — for more than a century, it’s due to what is conventionally called the “drought industry,” the diversion of federal funds intended for climate impact relief to the construction of wells and reservoirs on the lands of large landowners universal access to simple but effective water capture storage and reuse systems (such as cisterns) would be enough to keep everyone alive And the understanding that the vocation of these backlands “Cows die, crops end, but the goat always survives,” says José Moacir dos Santos, president of the Regional Institute of Appropriate Small Farming (IRPAA) a key player in Bahia focused on coexistence with the Caatinga since the beginning of colonization in the Northeastern backlands (an area called sertão) all focus was on cattle breeding and its role in providing meat to the cities and mills on the coast: “The goat was there just for the maintenance of the cowboy’s family That’s because the Caatinga vegetation itself provides all the food a herd of goats and sheep needs to survive Especially in the dry months and in rainfed-only areas where just the most resistant plants — and the animals that feed on them — survive All destined for meat and leather production — for millions of families but it’s also common for these herds to roam freely scattered through the dry forest in search of anything their teeth can reach That includes low vegetation and the shoots of trees that in an environment with excessive sunlight and scarce soil “The recovery of the Caatinga is very slow; it takes 20 “It’s different from the Amazon: Rain hits again which practically makes any reforestation attempt unfeasible: “At the beginning we planted a lot of seedlings — about 150,000 plants which makes regeneration even more difficult.” the community of Lages das Aroeiras stretched 1.2 miles of wire around 21 hectares (52 acres) of Caatinga with the sole goal of keeping goats and sheep outside Another 34 communities in northern Bahia did the same and now there are 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of fenced woods in the area That is the core of Recaatingamento (something like “recaatinguing”) a project that IRPAA has been developing since 2009: restoring dry forest areas by allowing nature itself to take care of them “recognizing that the Caatinga is tired and needs to rest.” IRPAA relied on a common social arrangement in northern Bahia an ancestral form of collective land management where a group of families share an area of native vegetation for grazing and gathering “It’s in the fundo de pasto communities that a significant part of the preserved Caatinga is found,” says Vanderlei Leite coordinator of IRPAA actions in the municipality of Canudos recorded the presence of 966 self-identified fundo de pasto communities across Bahia families sign a concession contract with the state government All the communities involved in the Recaatingamento project are also fundo de pasto They involve 600 families from 14 municipalities responsible for mapping the territory and choosing the areas to be “recaatingued.” This includes two strategies: isolating or managing The isolated area can be a stretch of preserved or degraded vegetation and it’s up to the community to decide which one to fence The one in Lages das Aroeiras is a kind of living museum of the Caatinga full of ancient baraúnas and imburanas whose branches shade gardens of macambiras (a kind of bromeliad) and xique-xiques so it’s too early to see the results in this slow-paced biome you notice changes in the landscape,” says Moacir “The first one is the size of the existing plants.” Free from goats which drop their seeds on the ground and germinate other plants which are important for keeping the soil covered and preventing water loss through evaporation That allows new plants to develop in that environment.” Every drop counts in the Brazilian dry forests IRPAA teaches how to carry out actions that enhance rainwater capture which keep streams running longer when it rains a groundwater source may be formed,” explains Waldemar “A lot of organic fertilizer accumulates too which involves creating several cuts in the ground in a sloping area Vanderlei lays it out: “The water used to come quickly it hits a contour line and slows down the speed Knowing what to do with the goats and sheep that continue to graze in open areas is as important as isolating a portion of dry forest This is where the other Recaatingamento conservation strategy comes in the Brazilian official agricultural research center each goat or sheep needs 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of Caatinga to live well and remain productive we’ve been doing the math,” summarizes Vanderlei This calculation is called “carrying capacity of the area”: how many animals the community has how big the territory is where they graze and whether there is enough food in that stretch is then designated for the sustainable use of the Caatinga with the exact number of animals that the place supports of a total of 258 hectares (637 acres) declared as fundo de pasto 189 hectares (467 acres) were reserved for management (in addition to the 21 hectares under recovery) Adding up the 35 Recaatingamento communities in Bahia there are close to 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of Caatinga conserved in these terms where goats and plants coexist in gentle balance one not compromising the survival of the other And what about the goats that don’t fit in these areas Since shrinking the herd in the sertão means shrinking the income (often the only source) there are two options: finding new sources of money or new sources of food for the animals One practice that the Recaatingamento project encourages is making goats and sheep food fodder from exotic plants especially prickly pear (Opuntia cochenillifera) Lages das Aroeiras has had a community Feed House installed close to the management area for 10 years where the forage that feeds the community’s approximately 1,800 animals is made “We grow all the fodder ingredients here: prickly pear just manure and water,” says José Rodrigues Cardoso president of the Community and Agropastoral Association of Small Producers of Lages das Aroeiras (ACAPPLAS) The same forage that feeds the herds and relieves pressure on the Caatinga also serves as food for a select group of goats living in the corral next to the Feed House Lages das Aroeiras is now investing in goat’s milk In a region with such a large goat population it would be expected that the production of milk from these animals would be commonplace but Moacir explains that the goats that now live in the dry forests descendants of the original ones brought by the Portuguese had to adapt to the environment and lost the ability to provide quality milk means bringing in less rugged animals from another place: “The milk goat needs more care If I let a white goat like that loose in the Caatinga The milk from the new goats of Lages das Aroeiras now goes to the headquarters of the most relevant agroecological cooperative in the region the Agricultural and Livestock Cooperative of Canudos which recently opened a dairy in Uauá to produce goat cheeses and yogurts It’s also where the umbu (Spondias tuberosa) and licuri (Syagrus coronata) fruits picked in the woods end up to be transformed into the juices “Recaatingamento encourages other activities that will generate income and make the family not depend 100% on goats roaming in the Caatinga,” says Moacir it can reduce the herd size without losing income because it has developed other economic activities.” If this income comes from gathering wild fruits as keeping the Caatinga standing is the only way this is possible Lages das Aroeiras even had its own fruit derivatives factory part of a COOPERCUC initiative to spread small processing units in rural areas since the impeachment of then-President Dilma Roussef in which the Brazilian government bought food products from small producers various communities in the region sell fresh fruit to COOPERCUC’s central factory but Lages das Aroeiras decided to switch things up: It revamped the unit to produce umbu and licuri popsicles The next move is diving into honey production from native Caatinga bees and Lages das Aroeiras already set up a bee yard right in the middle of the fenced area — unproductive for now but already with a hive full of mandaçaia bees (Melipona quadrifasciata) specialists in pollinating umbuzeiros and aroeiras the Recaatingamento cycle comes full circle: more income at home It would be easier if the Recaatingamento communities had an element in their favor: time climate change comes faster and fiercer to a fragile biome like the Caatinga And it tends to get worse: the “First National Assessment Report on Climate Change,” a pioneering study on the impacts of global warming in Brazil predicted an increase of 0.5º Celsius (0.9º Fahrenheit) to 1ºC (1.8ºF) in temperature and a reduction of up to 20% in rainfall by 2040 projections indicated temperatures 4.5ºC (8.1ºF) higher and rainfall reduced by half the evaporation rate will increase even if more reservoirs are built Moacir tells what is happening in northern Bahia: “Rain comes in shorter periods making it even more difficult for plants to survive and the more resistant ones tend to occupy new areas.” Indeed: According to IBGE, 294 Caatinga plant species are already under some degree of threat — almost 10% of the total. And a study concluded that 99% of the plant communities in the biome will have lost species; that is a more homogeneous dry forest landscape is expected in the coming years a year in which 140,000 hectares (346,000 acres) of native vegetation were cut down Most of this deforestation has been happening in the transition areas with the Cerrado savanna particularly in the region known as Matopiba a major front of agricultural expansion between Maranhão But the Caatinga itself has also been impacted especially in areas where new irrigation technologies have spurred the commercial production of tropical fruits and castor beans the Caatinga is inching toward desertification It’s a whole life cycle in harmony with the climate Desertification is soil sterilization and the impossibility of life in that environment The desert is a natural cause; desertification is a human It’s an area equivalent to that of Portugal scattered across patches throughout the biome — the largest chunk is right between southern Pernambuco state and northern Bahia this community practically tripled the number of houses,” says Moacir “The young people didn’t leave.” It’s the same trend seen in other Recaatingamento communities proof that it’s possible to reverse the climate exodus if communities see a reason to stick to the land “Coexisting with a semiarid climate is a question of concept We didn’t foster a culture of thinking about local development because we set our minds on the idea that it’s no good here also focus on fixing families to the land — by improving rainwater harvesting methods encouraging food production and investing in sustainable technologies like biogas production from animal manure All of this while keeping the Caatinga standing 3,000 families are benefiting from IRPAA projects Moacir is an optimist, the kind who sees the glass half full: “If 50% of the Caatinga is in a state of degradation, then 50% is in conservation. Much more than the Atlantic Forest, right?” The exact number is 57.9% of native vegetation making the Caatinga the third-most preserved biome in Brazil “The degraded half has two paths: desertification or recovery If we stop deforestation and start conserving what has already been degraded The tendency is for plants more adapted to climate change to emerge.” shaded by the century-old imburana tree in front of Lages das Aroeiras’ Feed House we can’t fully restore the Caatinga to what it was.” But that doesn’t mean he’s throwing in the towel Wearing a T-shirt featuring two mandacaru cactuses crowned with the phrase “Defensores da Caatinga” (Caatinga Defenders) Waldemar concludes: “We have to do something Banner image: Goat in a communal pasture area Niemeyer, J., & Vale, M. M. (2022). Obstacles and opportunities for implementing a policy-mix for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change in Brazil’s caatinga. Land Use Policy, 122, 106385. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.106385 A Brazilian NGO restores widely degraded Atlantic Forest amid mining threats The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […]