Belo Horizonte

Success Story

As a founding Cities4Forests city, Belo Horizonte recognizes the multitude of benefits that trees and forests within cities and their surroundings can offer to residents of urban areas, as well as the role that cities can play in helping to sustainably preserve, restore and manage these forests.

In this sense, the municipality has developed actions and projects to put this into practice. The Urban Agroforestry project, for example, aims to transform degraded spaces into preserved and productive areas, produce agroecological food and generate income for dozens of families. In more than 32,000 square meters distributed throughout the city, healthy food is produced and trees deliver ecosystem services that improve the quality of life in urban spaces. This strategy is also a response to the challenges of improving the quality of life for all people, as proposed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The Planting BH project, currently in its second year of implementation, proposes the creation of green belts around schools in the municipality. Its main objectives are strengthening and expanding integrated environmental education in municipal educational institutions; aiming at environmental conservation; carrying out tree planting in a participatory way with the school community, reducing microclimatic impacts, especially “heat islands”; and promoting people’s leading role in environmental conservation.