Usina Coruripe, one of the largest sugar and ethanol producers in Brazil’s Northeast and in Minas Gerais, is turning to the carbon market to help finance the expansion of its private conservation efforts. Two decades ago, the company, controlled by the heirs of Alagoas-born businessman Tércio Wanderley, began quietly acquiring land along the Carinhanha River, which separates the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia and serves as the backdrop for the classic Brazilian novel The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (Grande Sertão: Veredas).
Originally, the land acquisitions aimed to meet legal preservation requirements linked to the company’s operations in Alagoas and Minas Gerais. But over time, Coruripe transformed the area into a private conservation reserve, entirely separate from any legal obligations. Now, as deforestation advances in the region, the company is looking to expand the protected area and fund the initiative through the sale of carbon credits.
The Porto Cajueiro Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN), located in Januária in northern Minas Gerais, currently protects 20,000 hectares of native Cerrado vegetation. Coruripe’s sustainability manager, Bertholdino Teixeira Junior, explained that the area initially covered 7,000 hectares but has since grown, and the goal is to increase it to between 35,000 and 50,000 hectares.
To finance both the maintenance of the current reserve and its planned expansion, Coruripe has launched a project to sell REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) carbon credits on the voluntary market. The project is being developed by EQAO, with support from Reservas Votorantim—which has experience in generating Cerrado preservation credits—and Itaú.
“We always believed environmental assets would gain value eventually. We take a long-term view,” said Mr. Teixeira Junior. He noted that Coruripe began exploring ways to monetize the reserve roughly a decade ago. “We have alternatives beyond carbon credits, such as sustainable harvesting and ecotourism,” he added.
The company estimates that the current reserve could generate 27,000 carbon credits per year. This figure will be refined once field teams complete measurements and apply the certification methodology of Verra, the standard chosen for the project.
One of the technical challenges in generating carbon credits from Cerrado conservation projects lies in the biome’s natural cycle of annual wildfires. That’s where Reservas Votorantim’s expertise becomes essential. The group pioneered Cerrado conservation credits three years ago in partnership with Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA).
“Fire management is critical in this biome. Coruripe already has fire prevention measures in place, but enhancing these systems will be key to the project’s success,” said Daniel Canassa, director at Reservas Votorantim.
The plan includes implementing a monitoring system to track fire outbreaks, map burned areas, and measure biomass loss. The carbon emissions resulting from these fires will be accounted for and deducted from the project’s total eligible carbon credits.
Alternatively, the project can rely on the market’s “buffer” system, which compensates for unforeseen losses in carbon credit projects. The monitoring system will also track the regrowth of vegetation in burned areas and quantify the carbon captured during natural regeneration. “If properly managed, the Cerrado biome recovers remarkably well and quickly,” Mr. Canassa explained.
Expanding conservation along the Minas Gerais-Bahia border directly addresses the deforestation pressure facing the region. The area—immortalized by Guimarães Rosa’s novel—is now considered Minas Gerais’ last agricultural frontier, mirroring land use trends seen in western Bahia.
In recent years, native Cerrado vegetation in the region has been increasingly replaced by grain crops, pastureland for cattle, and brachiaria seed production. Coruripe’s investments not only protect native vegetation but also contribute to the recovery of the Carinhanha River, a major tributary of the São Francisco River.
“Given the area’s high deforestation rates and agricultural expansion, the project can generate significant carbon credits under the avoided deforestation methodology,” Mr. Canassa noted.
The voluntary carbon credit market is in a “recovery phase” after a series of scandals exposed weaknesses in some certified projects, said Maria Belen Losada, who oversees carbon product development and commercialization at Itaú. These controversies have reduced the number of available projects but increased demand for high-integrity credits. “The supply has decreased, but prices are rising for projects with solid environmental standards,” she said.
In her view, the project’s ability to monetize conservation will enable Coruripe to expand the reserve, generating additional environmental benefits, especially for the Carinhanha River. Ms. Losada believes the initiative will attract buyers due to its environmental attributes and its integration into the Sertão Veredas-Peruaçu Mosaic, a network of public and private conservation areas named in honor of Guimarães Rosa’s literary masterpiece.
