Klabin expands Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Program to São Paulo and Santa Catarina

Klabin’s Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Program has recently expanded its activities to the cities of Otacílio Costa, Santa Catarina, and Angatuba, São Paulo, where the company already has forest and industrial operations. With this expansion, the program now includes 49 beekeepers and 78 apiaries, with another 24 partners expected to be added from the two new cities by the end of 2018, to reach more than 100 apiaries, spread over forests in 12 cities in the states of Paraná, São Paulo and Santa Catarina.

For 80 million years bees have been performing the crucial task of pollinating plants and are thus considered the most efficient animals to transport pollen from one flower to another. One such example is the melipona bee that is native to Brazil, which is responsible for 40% to 90% of the pollination of our native forests. Due to environmental changes caused by the actions of human beings, bees in general run the risk of extinction and, without them, honey and more than 80% of the food consumed by human beings today will cease to exist.

To give the program a boost and show its importance for preserving the environment, Klabin annually holds training programs for partner beekeepers, which include theory and practical classes focused on improving yield and quality of honey. “The courses address techniques on good management of apiaries and improve quality and productivity levels, which ensures income growth for beekeepers,” explained Luiz Vicente Miranda, coordinator of Klabin’s Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Program. In the last training program, held last year at the Apiary School situated at the Monte Alegre Unit in Telêmaco Borba, Paraná, beekeepers learned about the process – from the development of larvae to the birth of bees and also the behavior of queen bees.

Launched in 2005, Klabin’s Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Program is conducted in partnership with Beekeeper Associations in the participating cities and aims to make full use of the potential offered by forests for non-wood products, driving the development of production chains that bring benefits both to the environment and to the communities surrounding the Company’s operations. “Rational beekeeping is considered as one of the principal alternatives for small and medium-sized producers as it is an excellent source of food, enables rapid growth in household income, improves crop yield and offers tremendous potential for integration with forest activities,” highlighted Miranda.
https://www.klabin.com.br/en/press/news/

Related Posts

Climate Change and the Rise in Wildfires: A Look at Best CSR Practices in Fire Management

Among the myriad ways climate change is impacting the planet, one of the most visible is the rise in forest fires across the globe. Without a doubt, fire seasons in the U.S. and many other countries across the world are becoming longer and more severe – with human activity bearing responsibility in both the short and long term. According to a study from researchers at the University of Idaho and Columbia University, since 1979 climate change has been responsible for more than half of the dryness of forests in the western U.S. and the increased length of the region’s fire season. Additionally, research from scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that humans are responsible for starting 84 percent of wildfires in the U.S., which has in turn tripled the length of wildfire season. This creates a perfect storm - sometimes the most innocent of fires, such as camp fires, due to dryness of the land, can quickly spread with devastating consequences. This case is not isolated to the U.S. On the other side of the world, Indonesia is currently preparing for the start of the 2017 fire season, with the devastation drought and the infamous 2015 fires at the forefront of everyone’s minds. According to the World Bank, more than 2.6 million hectares of forest, peat and other Indonesian land burned in 2015 and the fires cost the country’s economy $16 billion. It was reported that much of these fires were a result of illegal land clearing, which combined with El Niño created the elements for these devastating results. click Read More below for more of the story

Bee Part of the Solution

Imagine walking out of work for some fresh air and seeing a couple of bees flying around and then looking up to see a massive hive containing thousands of them. That's exactly what happened to an employee at our Green Bay Broadway mill. After it was reported, the first call was made to pest control to get rid of it. Once pest control identified the species of the bees, it was determined that it would be extremely valuable to the environment to relocate them vs. exterminating them. It turns out that the hive contained over 14,000 bees! Rescuing a swarm can be a difficult process but thankfully the Brown County Beekeepers Association was able to come rescue the swarm. Swarms can be captured in a variety of ways. In this case, the honeybees were removed by using a shop vac and a carrier. Yes, you read that right, the honeybees were vacuumed straight into the carrier that they needed to be transported in—surprisingly, it's a very safe process for the bees.

Greif Recognized Again for Environmental Leadership

Greif, Inc. announced that it was awarded an A- score for environmental leadership by the non-profit organization CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). CDP operates a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage the impact they make on the environment. The A- Leadership distinction outpaces the overall average of a B- score, along with the North America regional average of C on a scale from A to F. "We are thrilled that our efforts in environmental sustainability have been recognized by the CDP," said Pete Watson, Greif's president and chief executive officer. "Environmental impact and management both factor strongly into the decisions we make as a company in the present and with our future strategy. We will continue to enhance our standing as a leader in environmental stewardship." Click read more below for additional detail.
Back To Top
×Close search
Search