Instituto Terra
Aimorés, Minas Gerais, Brazil · Nonprofit · Regional · since 1998
Restoring Atlantic Forest and springs in Brazil's Rio Doce basin since 1998
About
Instituto Terra was founded in 1998 by Lélia Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado on the family's former cattle farm, Fazenda Bulcão, in Aimorés, Minas Gerais, which became a Private Natural Heritage Reserve on condition that it be restored. It runs a native-species nursery, restores Atlantic Forest on the 709 ha reserve and neighbouring farms (2,346 ha managed in total), and works with rural families to recover springs across the Rio Doce basin through its Olhos D'Água and Terra Doce programs. It also runs environmental education and technical training centres.
What they run
Restores Atlantic Forest on the Fazenda Bulcão reserve and neighbouring farms in the Rio Doce basin with seedlings from the institute's own nursery.
Produces native Atlantic Forest seedlings from seed collected within a 200 km radius for the institute's own planting and partner projects.
Works with rural families to fence, replant and protect springs and water recharge areas across the Rio Doce basin.
Programs for children, youth and technical professionals on ecological restoration.
Trees by type of work
| Activity | Trees | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 🌲 Reforestation | 3,300,000 | 2024 |
Only figures attached to a named program count here. Organization-wide totals sit in the table below.
The numbers
| Metric | Year | Value | Program | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trees plantedto date | 2025 | 3,500,000 | Organization-wide | Self-reported | sourceWebsite: '3,5 milhões de árvores plantadas' in '27 anos de atuação' |
| Trees planted | 2024 | 253,573 | Ecosystem Restoration | Self-reported | sourceAnnual Activity Report 2024, p.22 'In 2024 alone' infographic: 253,573 'seedlings planted in our forest' and 405,443 seedlings cultivated. Infographic text extraction separates numbers from labels, so the pairing was inferred from layout order |
| Trees plantedto date | 2024 | 3,300,000 | Ecosystem Restoration | Self-reported | sourceAnnual Activity Report 2024, p.20 'Our impact': '+3.3million trees planted in our forest' since 1998; p.7 also says the forest 'is home to more than 3 million trees' |
| Seedlings producedto date | 2024 | 7,459,193 | Native species nursery | Self-reported | sourceAnnual Activity Report 2024, p.20: '7,459,193 native seedlings cultivated in our nursery' (cumulative) |
Upcoming events
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