The Two Decade Reforestation of Millions of Trees in Brazil
In the past decades, when people and media talked about trees and forests, they always focused on the massive deforestation which occurred around the globe, and the damaging effects it has on the environment.
And that is no small deal because it affects the lives of every living thing on this planet. But still, there are at least some actions taken to reverse the whole process. Reforestation is simply deforestation turned on its head, and often it is kick-started by ordinary people.
The Salgado family’s motives
This story begins in the 90s, when the Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado along with his wife Lelia, planned to start a reforestation project that would originate in their home country, but inspire people and organizations around the world to do the same.
The whole thing came into being by their outrage at the large-scale deforestation that takes place everywhere and the overall bad treatment of the environment. Additionally, their family farm was affected by these processes.
Despite the rapid change that happened in their native region, a journey to war-torn Rwanda had its influence as well. After witnessing the horrors done there, the inspiration to make a positive change in the world was born.
Taking some action
In the late 90s, the Salgados managed to raise enough funds to form their very own institute dedicated to their noble cause of reforesting. From its formation up till now, the institute has planted over two million trees, thus changing the face of their home region of Minas Gerais.
- All of this happened because of goodwill and intentions. In an interview for The Guardian, Sebastiao Salgado talked about the importance of this project and the need for local seed varieties to attract back the native animal species that fled after the deforestation.
- Reconnecting with nature is very much needed if we are to preserve our world. The whole effort got the family farm the Private Natural Heritage Reserve award. Raising awareness about nature worldwide was also one of the necessary steps to have greater succes
- That is why the Center for Environmental Education and Restoration was formed. Its job is pretty much self-explanatory. Educating people about nature and how can we preserve it, as well as planting trees in forestless areas.
- With hard work they managed to bring back a lot of animal and plant species to their natural habitats. But they are not planning to stop here, as there is much more work left to be done.
And they shouldn’t do this alone. The small changes in the everyday lives of the average person are enough to make this world a better place, and why not start now.
