The aim is to generate technical and scientific knowledge to support management actions, environmental recovery, and biodiversity conservation in the ferruginous rupestrian grasslands of Minas Gerais, one of the most unique and vulnerable ecosystems in the country.
The project was motivated by the growing pressure on the ferruginous ecosystems of the Iron Quadrangle due to urban expansion and mining activity. The conservation of the species that live in these environments – many of them with restricted distribution and adapted to extreme soil and climate conditions, such as cacti and bromeliads – is strategic not only for complying with legal requirements, but also for maintaining the region’s ecosystem services and natural heritage. The project aims to deepen knowledge of the local flora, covering aspects of taxonomy, genetic diversity, propagation, and adaptation, with the aim of guiding conservation actions in situ (in the original site) and ex situ (outside the original site), as well as assisted reintroduction programs. The initiative also directly contributes to meeting environmental obligations in the South and Southeast corridors, through studies in botany, genetics, and physiology of native species.