In 1994, Sebastião Salgado, a photojournalist from Brazil, had just come home to his country after reporting on the genocide in Rwanda.
After all he had seen, Sebastião found that he needed time and space to recover from witnessing the tragedy, and so he sought refuge in nature.
Unfortunately, he found out that the tropical rainforest he remembered from his childhood no longer existed when he went to visit it. It was a crushing blow to an already injured soul.
The only thing left to view was an empty, dusty, and barren landscape.
A Need for Nature
At first, he was upset, but with the encouragement and help of his wife, he decided to replant the rainforest that he remembered from happier days. Together, they purchased an old cattle ranch in the area from his parents and began to start saplings for planting.
They also formed Instituto Terra, a non-profit organization with the aim of recovering and conservation of forests such as the one he remembered from when he was younger.
With the organization, they secured enough funding for their purpose and brought in volunteers to help with their goal of bringing vibrant nature back to the land. Soon, they would be ready to see just how much they could revitalize the landscape.
Eventually, they were ready to plant their first sapling in the ground.
Bringing the Forest Back to Life
Since then, Instituto Terra has gone on to plant over two million trees of nearly 300 types covering roughly 1,500 acres of barren land.
Their efforts have helped to bring trees back to the area and recreate a tropical rainforest in just twenty years. Along with the trees have come nearly 200 types of birds, more than 30 different species of mammals, and reptiles and amphibians as well. Animals are returning to the area now that it is habitable once again.
The forest is alive once more, all thanks to a couple who wanted to bring life back to a place where there no longer was any. Sebastião says that along with healing the earth, he was also able to heal himself.
The area they have worked on has now been declared as a Private Natural Heritage Reserve so that the trees and wildlife can remain safe and untouched. The result of their efforts will remain for generations to come, and hopefully even longer than that.
Why it is Needed
Sebastião and his wife, Lélia, are hoping that their efforts will show others that it is worth taking the time to care for nature as well as each other. Stewardship of our planet is important for a healthy world as well as our own spiritual and mental well-being.
The couple and their efforts are proof that even one (or two) people can make a difference. Even planting just one tree can add beauty and nature to the surroundings it is placed in.
Deforestation is becoming a growing problem due to logging, urban encroachment, and other factors – many of which are caused by humans. If we can create the damage, it only makes sense that healing it is also within our abilities.
And in healing nature, maybe we can find a way to heal ourselves as well, just as Sebastião discovered for himself.
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