Why it matters: this inspiring couple's efforts have revived a degraded landscape, restoring biodiversity and the natural environment for the local community and the planet.
In 1998, award-winning photojournalist Sebastião Salgado and his wife, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, founded their nonprofit nature preserve, Instituto Terra. Over the course of 20 years, the pair was responsible for planting over 2.5 million trees.
It all started when Salgado returned from an assignment covering the Rwandan genocide. He and Lélia inherited his father's cattle ranch, which was extremely degraded. "The land was as sick as I was — everything was destroyed," Salgado said at a Paris climate change meeting in 2015, according to The Guardian. "Then my wife had a fabulous idea to replant this forest. And when we began to do that, then all the insects and birds and fish returned and, thanks to this increase of the trees I, too, was reborn – this was the most important moment."
The Salgados began with 100,000 seedlings. Now, they plant 150,000 every year. Starting with an initial donation of 100,000 seedlings from a local mining company, they began the first steps of rebuilding. Now, the 1,750-acre property in the Doce River Valley region in Southeast Brazil is so covered in trees that it can be seen from space.
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This article is a heartwarming story about a couple who dedicated 20 years to planting over 2.5 million trees, transforming a degraded cattle ranch into a thriving nature preserve that can be seen from space. It showcases a proven, measurable solution to environmental restoration, with a significant positive impact on the local ecosystem and community. The article provides strong evidence and expert testimony, making it a perfect fit for Brightcast's mission to highlight constructive solutions and real hope.
