To demonstrate that productive agriculture and environmental regeneration can coexist by applying process-based agriculture and syntropic agroforestry principles that increase local biodiversity while maintaining productive cacao, acai, and tropical fruit systems within the Atlantic Forest biome.
To become a model regenerative organism where agriculture, tourism, research, and culture integrate harmoniously within the Atlantic Forest, demonstrating that soil, water, flora, fauna, and people can evolve together toward a thriving, biodiverse, and economically viable future.
Restore and conserve Atlantic Forest biodiversity through syntropic agroforestry and traditional cabruca systems. Recover degraded lands and water sources. Increase native bee populations. Maintain ecological connectivity with Serra do Conduru State Park. Produce high-quality cacao and tropical fruits while regenerating soil health and forest structure.
Strengthen local community through education, agroforestry training, volunteer and internship programs, and regenerative tourism experiences. Support traditional cacao farming culture. Provide economic opportunities through value-added products (bean-to-bar chocolate, forest products) and experiential tourism.
Agroforestry immersion courses led by experienced educators (e.g., Jua Pereira), native bee conservation workshops, birdwatching experiences, cacao immersion tours (Passeio do Cacau), ecological lodging hosting visitors and researchers, internship and volunteer programs, partnerships with Instituto Nova Era and Mayra-Hu, and event hosting for regenerative agriculture education.
Diversified regenerative enterprise model combining cacao production (specialty bean sales and bean-to-bar chocolate), agroforestry product sales (acai, tropical fruits, pulps, freeze-dried products), sustainable timber extraction and reclaimed wood, ecological tourism and experiential hospitality (lodging, guided tours, birdwatching), educational course fees, and exploration of ecosystem service tokenization for regenerative economy models.
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Ecosystem Unity:
Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlantica), specifically the dense submontane ombrophilous forest of southern Bahia, with associated coastal restinga, mangrove, and riparian ecosystems forming an interconnected mosaic maintained by the Serra do Conduru mountain range and coastal hydrographic systems.
Super-humid tropical climate (Koppen Af), characterized by warm temperatures year-round with no distinct dry season. The region is influenced by maritime tropical air masses and orographic rainfall from the Serra do Conduru range.
Rainfall is distributed throughout the year with no predictable dry season, though occasional rainless periods of 1-3 months can occur between December and March. April is the wettest month (approximately 152 mm) and September the driest (approximately 81 mm). Humidity ranges from 80% in January to 87% in July.
Temperatures rarely fall below 18C (64F) or exceed 33C (91F). Occasional cooler periods occur during austral winter months (June-August) with nighttime lows around 18C.
Located within the Eastern Hydrographic Basin of Bahia. The farm contains springs and streams that feed into the Tijuipinho River system, which flows eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. Multiple springs and small waterfalls are present on the property.
Groundwater is accessed through natural springs on the property. The area benefits from high rainfall infiltration through forested slopes, recharging shallow aquifers. The farm actively works on recovering and protecting water sources (nascentes) as part of its conservation efforts.
Flora includes native Atlantic Forest species such as inga, jequitiba, jatoba, embauba, aroeira, and guapuruvu providing canopy for cacao cultivation. Cultivated species include cacao (Parazinho and Maranhao varieties), acai, jackfruit, cupuacu, banana, coconut, citrus, cassava, pineapple, and corn. Fauna includes 175+ bird species documented in the Serra do Conduru area, native stingless bees, primates (golden-headed lion tamarin, golden-bellied capuchin), ocelot, cougar, and at least 45 endemic amphibian species.
The landscape consists of coastal Atlantic Forest hills and valleys formed by the Serra do Conduru mountain range, a series of low coastal mountains that rise abruptly from a narrow coastal plain. The topography includes flat valley floors used for agriculture, rolling hillsides with cacao cabruca, and steeper forested uplands with springs and waterfalls.
This land lies within the ancestral territory of the Tupinamba people, who have inhabited the Atlantic coastal forests of southern Bahia since long before Portuguese colonization. The Tupinamba de Olivenca, recognized by the Brazilian government in 2002, maintain communities extending from the coast near Olivenca to Serra do Padeiro, approximately 40 km south of the farm. Their ongoing land demarcation and cultural revitalization movement (retomada) is a defining feature of the region's social landscape.
The southern Bahia cacao landscape is a globally significant cultural landscape where traditional cabruca farming has maintained forest cover while producing cacao for over 250 years. This human-modified forest system is recognized as one of the most effective forms of shade agriculture for biodiversity conservation. The coastal region also carries the cultural legacy of the cacao boom (19th-20th century), Afro-Brazilian quilombola communities, fishing villages, and the more recent emergence of ecotourism and regenerative agriculture movements.
The region experienced intensive cacao monoculture expansion in the 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by the devastating witches broom fungus (Crinipellis perniciosa) epidemic in the 1980s-1990s that collapsed the regional cacao economy. This crisis led to widespread land abandonment and deforestation. In response, Serra do Conduru State Park was created in 1997, and the BA-001 highway connecting Ilheus to Itacare was inaugurated in 1998, opening the region to ecotourism. Fazenda Sao Francisco has since transitioned toward regenerative agroforestry and syntropic agriculture, recovering degraded areas and diversifying production beyond cacao.
The farm sits within the Central Atlantic Forest Ecological Corridor, established in 2002, which connects forest remnants from southern Bahia to northern Espirito Santo. The cabruca cacao system on the property functions as a biological corridor linking Serra do Conduru State Park forest fragments to coastal ecosystems. This connectivity is critical for the movement of primates, birds, and other arboreal fauna between isolated forest patches.
Serra Grande village is approximately 40 km north of Ilheus (population ~160,000) and 35 km south of Itacare (population ~30,000). The farm is accessible via the BA-001 coastal highway. The nearest airport is Ilheus/Jorge Amado Airport (IOS). Salvador, the state capital, is approximately 350 km to the north.
