Instituto Terra is born from love and a dream
Lélia Wanick and Sebastião Salgado inherit the family ranch in Brazil, part of the Atlantic Forest. How do they restore biodiversity and promote development?
In 1998, they founded Instituto Terra and started planting native seedlings to restore the forest. The new forest is now home to an abundance of plants and animals.
They're focused on environmental restoration and sustainable rural development in the Vale do Rio Doce. A region that was originally covered by the Atlantic Forest and encompasses municipalities in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.
With help from local students and communities, they have planted over 3 million trees from 293 species that have been planted. Instituto Terra also educates on how to bring forests, watersheds, and rural communities back to life.
This former cattle pasture is now a federally recognized nature reserve: a sanctuary for biodiversity, with over 2,000 restored springs and thriving wildlife. The return of ants, ocelots, butterflies, and birds, including endangered species, signals a full-circle recovery of the food chain and ecosystem.
Along the trails of the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Bulcão Farm you can hear the loud and courageous birdsong.
The first monitoring in 2006 identified: 172 bird species (six of which were threatened with extinction); 33 species of mammals (two of which are endangered in the world, and three others are endangered in Brazil); 15 species of amphibians and 16 species of reptiles.
Stories like Instituto Terra give us tremendous hope. Restor has hundreds of nature conservation projects that you can read about and support.
A heartfelt note: Sebastião Salgado passed away recently. His legacy lives on in every tree, spring, and creature that returned to this land.
