Maria da Conceição kneels in the red clay soil of Pedra Branca, her hands cradling a young banana sapling nestled between towering guapuruvu and jequitibá trees—living proof that farming and forest conservation can grow side by side. In the heart of Rio de Janeiro, within the sprawling 12,500-hectare Pedra Branca State Park—the world’s largest urban forest—families from the Cafundá Astrogilda quilombola community are redefining agriculture. Once marginalized on the edges of Brazil’s environmental policies, they now lead a quiet revolution: agroforestry systems that produce food while restoring native ecosystems. This isn’t farming despite the forest—it’s farming because of it.
For generations, the community lived in harmony with the Atlantic Forest, but pressures from urban expansion and restrictive conservation laws often painted small-scale farming as a threat. Now, through a pioneering partnership with the state environmental agency INEA and agroecology experts from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, the quilombola families are proving that human activity can be a force for regeneration. By interplanting banana crops with native species like cajá, ingá, and araçá, they mimic the forest’s natural layers, reduce soil erosion, and create habitats for birds and pollinators. The result? A resilient, productive landscape where biodiversity thrives alongside livelihoods.
Since 2020, 42 families have transformed over 65 hectares using agroforestry techniques, planting more than 50,000 native trees alongside banana crops. Their yields have increased by up to 40% compared to monoculture plots, while forest cover in their managed areas has grown by 18%. The project has also revived traditional knowledge—elders teach youth how to read the forest’s rhythms, while women lead seed exchanges and organic composting initiatives. Every banana bunch sold at local markets carries not just nutrition, but a story of cultural resilience and ecological care.
The impact stretches beyond the forest floor. The community’s agroforestry model is now being studied as a blueprint for sustainable land use in urban protected areas across Brazil. "We’re not just growing bananas," says community leader João Ribeiro. "We’re growing forests, memories, and futures." With deforestation rates still threatening the Atlantic Forest—a biome that once covered 15% of Brazil and now stands at just 12%—initiatives like Cafundá Astrogilda offer a rare beacon: a path where people and nature heal together. As Rio looks to balance urban growth with environmental survival, the quiet rows of banana trees in Pedra Branca whisper a powerful truth—sometimes, the best way to protect a forest is to live within it, gently and wisely.