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As part of the international scientific collaboration strategy, the Brazil-Norway Biodiversity Research Consortium (BRC) brought a group of Norwegian researchers to Brazil to deepen knowledge about ecology and biodiversity in tropical forests. The journey included a visit to Mineração Paragominas, in the municipality of Paragominas (PA), where the group got to know the forest recovery practices implemented in the unit and the field of studies of the scientists who are part of the Consortium.

The visit to Brazil is part of the field course “Ecology of tropical forest and biodiversity”, a training program for masters and doctoral students from two Norwegian institutions: University of Oslo and Norwegian University of Life Science. The purpose is to involve Brazilian and Norwegian researchers in a common cause focused on basic research in ecology and biodiversity and also research on forest recovery after mining.

“In the first part of the course, they went through an immersion in the Cauxianã National Forest, an area of protected forest. In the next stage, they went to Mineração Paragominas to assess issues such as recovery of degraded areas, reforestation and fauna in the mining area. Many of them had never been in a tropical forest, ”said Rafael Assis, coordinator of the BRC Consortium Secretariat.

Back in Norway, visitors will produce scientific articles about the experience. At a later stage, Brazilian students will go to Norway to complement the lessons learned here.

people in a greenhouse

Brazilian researchers presented projects conducted at the bauxite mine

In Paragominas, the group also learned about research projects carried out within the mine by scholars from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA), Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG) and University of Oslo ( UiO).

During a seminar, Brazilian researchers shared their experiences on the lessons provided by BRC with their Norwegian colleagues. “It is gratifying to see that our results lead us to understand how we can improve the reforestation processes”, said Juliana Santos, biologist, master in Biology and PhD student at UFPA.

About BRC - The Brazil-Norway Biodiversity Research Consortium is formed by the University of Oslo, Norway, and its Brazilian partners Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Universidade Federal do Pará and Universidade Federal Rural Amazon, in addition to Hydro. Established in 2013, BRC was renewed for another five years in 2017.

The consortium maintains a research program connected to Hydro's mining operations. The objective is to strengthen the company's capacity to preserve the natural biodiversity of the areas where the company mines bauxite, and already has 26 projects approved and in progress, it has also generated 30 research papers, 9 master's dissertations, 4 doctoral theses and 2 postdoctoral theses in progress.

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