“A Goal for the Amazon” – Manaus Airport supports campaign to restore deforested areas of Idesam

● The initiative reinforces VINCI Airports' commitment to environmental preservation; 

● The goal is to plant 7,000 trees and restore the equivalent of 7 soccer fields; 

● Restored areas with seedling planting are located in municipalities in the interior of Amazonas, such as Apuí and São Sebastião do Uatumã.

 December, 2022 - Restore the equivalent of 7 soccer fields in the Amazon rainforest. This is the goal of the “A Goal for the Amazon” campaign, supported by Manaus Airport, managed by the Concessionária dos Aeroportos da Amazônia, a member of the VINCI Airports network. The initiative by the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon (Idesam) aims to raise awareness among civil society in the fight against illegal deforestation, taking advantage of the World Cup and the Brazilian people's passion for soccer. 

The idea is to draw attention to the conservation of the standing forest, as by September 2022, the area of the Amazon rainforest cleared reached 9,069 km², which corresponds to almost eight times the size of the city of Rio de Janeiro (SAD/Imazon). The partnership aligns with VINCI Airports' commitment to environmental preservation, being the first airport operator to commit, in 2016, to a global international environmental strategy to achieve the goal of net zero carbon emissions across its network by 2050. 

Manaus Airport is supporting the project by encouraging donations among its employees and the external public. Totems with information about the activity and the QR Code for donations have been placed in the food court, check-in areas, boarding areas, and administrative area. The campaign will also be promoted on the airport's social media. 

Donations will be made through the Doare reference system, by accessing doe.idesam.org, in the modalities of PIX, card, or boleto. Prioritizing transparency and accountability, a specific campaign page will be available, informing the number of “goals,” that is, donations made and the equivalent in tree planting, restored soccer fields, and families benefited, via the link idesam.org/um-gol-para-amazonia; also featuring a VAR, video referee, showing the amounts raised vs. areas to be restored, based on the calculation of 1,000 trees equivalent to 1 soccer field, at a cost of R$40.00 per unit. 

Karen Strougo, CEO of the Concessionária dos Aeroportos da Amazônia, highlights: “Focusing on sustainable operations, promoting and supporting environmental preservation initiatives is one of VINCI Airport's major concerns. We have a solid environmental policy that we have already started to implement in Manaus, and this campaign is fully aligned with our projects.” 

According to Paola Bleicker, executive director of Idesam, the goal is to strengthen the culture of donations and partnerships around the socio-environmental cause. “We want to create a large network of ambassadors who will support the campaign, such as social entrepreneurs and other mobilization agents who are aligned with socio-environmental issues in the Amazon. Idesam will take the field with a strong team to give a red card to illegal deforestation,” said Paola. 

The areas restored with seedling planting are part of Idesam's activities in municipalities in the interior of Amazonas, such as Apuí and São Sebastião do Uatumã. “With the campaign, we want to impact rural producers, extractivists, and families who live and survive from the forest. We are very pleased to have more supporters joining the campaign, who are influencers and mobilizers from various segments. The arrival of Manaus Airport to our team will only further strengthen this work,” Paola concluded.