IBF'S HISTORY

The history of IBFLORESTAS is the same as the history of the Aquino family. The beginning of the Brazilian Institute of Forest started with Juan Martinez Garcia (1917 - 1953) and Edith Aquino Garcia (1927), who were Spanish immigrants in 1948. They went to live in Granada city Herculândia Farm – São Paulo and then started the production and cultivation of native ornamental plants of the Atlantic Woodland. The son Higino Aquinas (1949-1996) continues the activities of his parents, but has involved his wife, Lucy, and their children: Solano, Wiliam and Higino Jr and he then moved from Herculândia to Apucarana city - Paraná. Higino had dedicated his life to couroplastia (painting and embossed leather) and protection of nature, among his major works was the restoration of a devastated area, where he worked with gravel extraction. This work began in 1989, with the planting of pioneer species and the enrichment of the velvet bean (legume creeper), which is gradually being carried out.

In 1994 Solano Martin Aquino, the current president of IBFLORESTAS started a campaign to plant endangered species in bottles for "Campaign Bromeliad Hope ", the result was an unexpected collection of over 10 thousand bottles, which were planted by Solano and his brothers, Wiliam and Higino Aquino Jr. (founders and directors of IBFLORESTAS). These seedlings were donated to the population in order to promote awareness.

The environmental protection and social entrepreneurship is the hallmark of the family.  In 2006, after numerous trips to research and to study the biomes of Brazil and Latin American countries, the Aquino brothers decided to formalize, strengthen, and make their projects official, creating IBFLORESTAS - Instituto Brasileiro de Florestas through the exclusive support of private companies and with the proceeds from the sale of native plants.

Currently, IBFLORESTAS is one of the primary institutions in Brazil to integrate five areas related to environmental projects. It has an operational base in Apucarana, a city which has the largest number of stream sources in the state of Paraná. Within the specific offices and houses, there exists a multidisciplinary team that carries out activities in support of projects, consulting, training, capacity building, environmental management, environmental communication, reforestation, carbon sequestration, and innovative businesses, in partnership with private companies, governmental entities and developmental agencies in Brazil as well as abroad.

Since its foundation, IBFLORESTAS has specialized in finding innovative solutions for the development of environmental projects. The history of the Institute has many valuable projects and studies aimed at the conservation of natural resources, especially focusing on the fight against Global Warming, biodiversity protection, planting of native trees, communication and promotion of environmental awareness, and environmental programs to generate employment and income, thus enabling a great number of people to come together for the improvement of the world in which we live.

During these first years, the company is a new model of environmental action, and for each project there is the possibility to form a partnership or to develop activities in a more structured and coordinated group to participate in management of the community.

The IBFLORESTAS is distinguished in the environmental setting and is the largest network of native plant production in Brazil, with the ability to produce 8 million seedlings per year. It is constantly expanding with the help of its production partners, which are primarily associated nurseries and the Project Family Nursery.