Telêmaco Borba, April 19, 2016 – Klabin, Brazil’s largest paper producer and exporter and the leading manufacturer of paper and board for packaging, corrugated board packaging and industrial bags, is celebrating 10 years of its Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Program, implemented at the Monte Alegre Unit, in Telêmaco Borba, Paraná.

In partnership with Associations of Beekeepers, the Program aims to take advantage of the potential of forests and promote non-wood products, thus fostering development in production chains that benefit local communities and the environment. In the beekeeping program, Klabin allows producers to use its forest areas to install and handle apiaries, while for meliponiculture it invests in research and breeding of native bees, which are responsible for pollinizing 40-90% of vegetable species, thus also helping to preserve and sustainably use the ecosystem.

Both activities provide a fast increase in the household income of small and medium local producers, improve crop productivity and perfectly integrate with the company’s forestry operations. The project, which currently involves 42 beekeepers working in 63 apiaries installed in the company’s forests in Paraná, has already produced around 50 tons of honey.