The Vale Environmental Institute (abbreviated to IAV in Portuguese) was founded in 2000. It has an independent organisational structure, and its expertise is available to all Vale units, subsidiaries and affiliates. It is primarily concerned with the development of rehabilitation projects, including the rehabilitation of forests and wetlands, conservation unit planning and urban landscaping.

During 2006, the IAV developed 100 projects for different Vale operational units, each designed to meet the needs of the different ecosystems in which the units are based.

One major project developed that year was the Degraded Areas Recovery Programme, which saw 173 indigenous botanical species re-established in an area of 400 ha. This takes to 1 960 ha the total areas, within the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon, and Cerrado (savannah) ecosystems that have been replanted by Vale. The specialists of the IAV also provide environmental training to staff in other divisions of Vale.

The institute has another very important function: it administers botanic parks and conservation areas, only two of which are owned by the group. These are the Vale Natural Resources Reserve, the Vale Botanical Park, the Sooterama Biological Reserve, the Carajás National Forest, the Carajás Zoo-Botanical Park, the Tapirapé-Aquiri National Forest and the Tapirapé Biological Reserve.

The Vale Natural Resources Reserve lies in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. With an area of 22 000 ha, it is also the centre of the group’s environmental research programmes. In 2006, the reserve produced some 12 t of seeds and four-million seedlings from 422 different Atlantic Forest tree species, for ecosystem recovery and forest re-establish-ment projects.

The Vale Botanical Park lies in the Tubarão industrial complex, also in Espírito Santo. The complex includes a major port, for the export of iron-ore and pellets, and one of the largest pellet producing facilities in the world. Reforestation started in the 1980s, and the Botanical Park now covers 620 ha and contains six-million tropical trees. Not only does the park represent a rehabilitation of an ecosystem, its also acts as a windshield for the stockpiles of iron-ore and pellets.

The Sooterama Biological Reserve, again in Espírito Santo, actually belongs to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama – the Federal government environmental agency) but is managed by the IAV. It lies close to the Vale Natural Resources Reserve and together the two parks cover 48 000 ha, respresenting 45% of Espírito Santo’s forests.

Located in the state of Pará, the Carajás National Forest is another Ibama-owned reserve that is managed by the IAV. Part of the Amazon rainforest, this national forest covers 1,3-million hectares and covers five Federal conservation areas and the territory of the Xikrin indigenous community.

The Carajás Zoo-Botanical Park, established in 1985, lies in the heart of the Carajás National Forest, and covers some 30 ha. Again, it is owned by Ibama and managed by the IAV. With a staff of about 20 different professionals, it serves for research, conservation, education and leisure, receiving an average of 3 500 visitors each month, most of them students.

The Tapirapé-Aquiri National Forest and the Tapirapé Biological Reserve are also federal conservation areas, associated with the Carajás National Forest, owned by Ibama and managed by the IAV. The Tapirapé Biological Reserve was established in 1989 and the IAV assumed managerial control in 2001.

In all cases, IAV management plans are submitted to Ibama for approval.