Case Study: Tijuca National Park, Brazil

Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro was restored starting in the 1860s to address severe water crises caused by deforestation for coffee and sugarcane. Through a combination of active planting and passive recolonization, 3,200 hectares were restored, resulting in improved water supplies, air quality, and the reintroduction of numerous native species. The project succeeded due to strong leadership from the Brazilian Imperial Court, technical assistance from the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, and adaptive management to combat fire threats. However, the document notes that early restoration involved the expropriation of land and the use of slave labor.

• Tijuca National Park is one of the world's largest urban forests, having restored 3,200 hectares of land that was previously degraded by agriculture, specifically coffee plantations, in the mid-1800s.
• The primary motivation for restoration was a water supply crisis in Rio de Janeiro during the 19th century, where deforestation led to winter stream drying and rainy season flash floods, with severe droughts occurring in 1824, 1829, 1833, and 1844.
• Restoration efforts began in the early 1860s, with the establishment of Tijuca Forest and Paineiras in 1861 as Brazil's first conservation area. Between the 1860s and 1885, approximately 88,000 trees were planted.
• The restoration resulted in significant biodiversity gains, including the reintroduction of 25 bird species, 7 mammal species, and 1 reptile species, and providing habitat for 49 mammal species, 11 of which are on regional threatened lists and 4 on the IUCN Red List.
• Success was enabled by a combination of ecological conditions, such as steep slopes that encouraged the abandonment of agriculture and the presence of forest remnants for natural recolonization, and political leadership from Emperor Dom Pedro II and managers Manuel Gomes Archer and Gastão de Escragnolle.
• The park employs adaptive management to address fire, the biggest disturbance threat. Since 1991, fire events have been recorded, and management has evolved from simple suppression to creating low-flammability plant communities along forest boundaries.
• The document identifies historical human rights violations during the restoration process, specifically the expropriation of farmland by Emperor Pedro II in 1861 and the use of approximately ten slaves for planting in the 1860s.

APA

Buckingham, K., & Hanson, C. (2015). Case Study: Tijuca National Park, Brazil. World Resources Institute. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Brazil.pdf

Chicago

Buckingham, Kathleen, and Craig Hanson. Case Study: Tijuca National Park, Brazil. World Resources Institute, 2015. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Brazil.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Buckingham |first1=Kathleen |last2=Hanson |first2=Craig |title=Case Study: Tijuca National Park, Brazil |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=2015 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Brazil.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{buckingham2015case, author = {Buckingham, Kathleen and Hanson, Craig}, title = {{Case Study: Tijuca National Park, Brazil}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2015}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/WRI_Restoration_Diagnostic_Case_Example_Brazil.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }