The Associação de Apicultores do Planalto Serrano Catarinense (AAPSC), a beekeepers association in Santa Catarina, raises bees for honey production in conserved native forests provided by the Company

Santa Catarina, December 27, 2022 —As part of its commitment to the development of the region where it operates, Klabin has over the years been ramping up its support to apiculture and stingless beekeeping, fostering income generation for small producers and the sustainable use of forests and the environment. As a result, the Company implemented a Forest Certification Program for Beekeepers, which provided assistance to the Associação de Apicultores do Planalto Serrano Catarinense (AAPSC) in obtaining the certification from the Institute of Forestry and Agricultural Management (Imaflora), which takes into account social and environmental criteria and evaluates the management, production and chain of custody of the product.

Klabin’s apiculture and stingless beekeeping support program was launched in 2005, by which the Company cedes stretches of conserved native forests to small and midsized rural producers to raise bees. The partner in this initiative, AAPSC represents beekeepers from over 20 towns in the region, producing more than 100 tons of honey per year.

The Imaflora seal is granted on the basis of existing guidelines and indicators for specific certification of forest products. Among the assessed items is the average radius of flight of bees, which ensures the location of production and traceability of honey, control of bee boxes per hectare to identify whether the production is consistent with bee population; and good production practices, such as the use of production equipment, non-use of chemicals, among others.

“Klabin’s native forests in Santa Catarina are spread across 40 towns and are interspersed with forests planted with pine and eucalyptus trees. For each planted hectare, there is 1.1 hectare of native forests. Besides augmenting their household income, the beekeeper assistance program benefits the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, since bees pollinate plants and improve the productivity of other crops,” explained Mireli Moura Pitz Floriani, Sustainability consultant at Klabin.

With a forest base spanning over 500,000 hectares, more than 40% of Klabin’s areas consist of conserved forests.

Bracatinga honey

Fostering social and economic development while protecting the environment, Klabin supports the cultivation of bracatinga (Mimosa scabrella) in the Serra Catarinense region, a tree species that helps recover environmentally degraded areas and the production of a special honey (bracatinga honeydew honey). In September this year, during the Municipal Agriculture and Tourism Seminar held in Bocaina do Sul by Epagri in partnership with the local government, the Company distributed 1,300 bracatinga seedlings through the Legal Forests program. 

Valued domestically and internationally, bracatinga honey is one of the main products of family farming in the region that fosters income generation for beekeepers.

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