AkzoNobel has announced that it is planting 12,000 seedlings of species native to the region on a stretch of its Brazilian site.

The six-hectare plot at the Tangara Reserve, Sao Paulo, is currently populated with non-native eucalyptus woodland. The move is the latest phase of a long-term project to restore 70 hectares of the reserve to native woodland.

“Around 35 hectares have been reforested since 2007 and it’s a source of great pride to see how we’re contributing to safeguarding the Brazilian rainforest,” explained Elaine Poco, RD&I Director for AkzoNobel Decorative Paints in Latin America. “A 2015 study concluded that the forest is recovering itself, except for a steeper area, and that’s the target of this new phase of the project.”

The company is also investing €3 million in a water treatment plant, which will allow the company to use recycled water to manufacture paints. The Maua plant is expected to reuse 100 percent of its water by 2020.