Six months after the first round of planting, the team was ready to measure the 44 trees in one sample plot. Luiz Carlos Batista Lobato, a botanist who specializes in tree censuses, walked across the plot to document three trees that had died, many that were taller than him and one that was more than two inches thick. In a few years, Mr. Batista Lobato said, monkeys and armadillos would come to eat the fruits of different trees and birds would feast on the açaí berries, dispersing their seeds as they move around the forest. Watching the trees start to grow helped to dispel some of the skepticism that farmers across the region still have. “We end up feeling like following the same path,” he added, as he watched the sun set on a vast pasture.

---

Persons: Luiz Carlos Batista Lobato, Batista Lobato, ”, Djalma Soares, Mr, Soares Locations: Maracaçumé