By Staff
When their once beautiful and lively home of Minas Gerais, Brazil was destroyed and burned as a result of deforestation, husband and wife Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado decided to take matters into their own hands in restoring the beautiful, abundant, Atlantic Forest.
Sebastião Salgado and his wife, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, were gone on a trip and when they returned, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Their home, once surrounded by the beautiful plants and trees of the Atlantic Forest, was now surrounded by infertile, barren, and burned wasteland.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2015, Sebastião linked the dead forest to his own-internal emotions that were being revealed through the monstrosity of deforestation, “The land was as sick as I was – everything was destroyed.” Then, suddenly, his wife, Lélia decided that she’d had enough and they would take matters into their own hands, with the brilliant idea of restoring the rainforest themselves.
In order to completely restore their 600-hectare area of land, they needed help, they needed willing hands. So, in 1998 they formed Instituto Terra, a non-governmental organization focused on ecosystem restoration, environmental education, and sustainable rural development. Through the organization they were able to hire people who cared just as much about the environment as they did.
The results were incredible. Sebastião and Lélia, along with their incredible team planted over 2.7 million trees over the course of many years, with lots of hard work, and dedication. When the plants began blooming, all of the lost animal life also came back! 172 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, 16 species of amphibians, and 15 reptiles all returned to their home. With the incredible commitment of Sebastião Salgado, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, and their organization, Instituto Terra, the Atlantic Forest was saved!
beniciapaw.com 