09 Sep Canopée plants over 1000 trees and begins the process of neutralizing its GHG emissions

Canopée has joined the Federal University of Viçosa's Carbon Zero Program and has already kicked off the process of neutralizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations. The initiative began with the preparation of an inventory of GHG emissions related to the company's operations in 2021, based on information gathered from Canopée employees. Based on the estimated emissions, calculations were made and a recommendation was made regarding the number of seedlings to be planted in order to neutralize these emissions over a 30-year horizon.

The calculations showed that it would be necessary to plant 74 trees to neutralize the company's emissions in 2021, within the proposed horizon.

However, Canopée decided to go far beyond compensation, promoting the creation of a new arboretum that combines the neutralization of emissions with other environmental and scientific benefits. In this way, 1023 seedlings of native species were planted in an area of ​​7,000 m² provided by the Federal University of Viçosa for this purpose. The area was occupied by Pinus sp., which were severely damaged by the strong storm that hit the campus in October 2019. Now, the site will be a beautiful plantation of native forest species of the Atlantic Forest.

To compose the planting, 9 (nine) species were chosen, including pioneer species and species of diversity. The spacing used was 3m x 2m (6m².plant-¹) and the proposed planting arrangement was the quincunx system, in which a seedling of a diverse species is placed in the center of a square formed by four seedlings of pioneer species. This arrangement was chosen because pioneer species grow quickly, thus providing the necessary shade for seedlings of non-pioneer species.

Image 1 – List of species planted and their arrangement in the area.

In the planting area, actions were carried out to clean the land, combat leaf-cutting ants, delimit and square, dig holes, apply liming, apply starter fertilizer, plant and irrigate.

Fighting climate change is part of our commitment to the planet, which is why the number of trees planted by Canopée exceeded the amount needed to neutralize GHG emissions from the company's activities by more than 13 times.

The area of the GHG neutralization plantation carried out by Canopée in partnership with UFV will be protected and monitored for the next 30 years, and will also be designated as an experimental area, where research and extension activities will be developed. With the growth and development of the plantation, it is planned to involve the academic community of UFV in the preparation of monographs, dissertations and theses, aiming at scientific production on topics relevant to the ESG theme, such as: analysis of impacts on soil microbiota, carbon sequestration potential of the species used, genetic conservation of native species, among other lines of research.