Perfect match

Lélia Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado return to his family’s land in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and find the once-lush landscape deforested and degraded. Their dream is simple, yet groundbreaking: to transform the land back into a living forest.

The Salgados found Instituto Terra, a non-profit dedicated to reforestation and environmental education. Later, the Bulcão Farm is designated as a Private Natural Heritage Reserve, even before trees are replanted – a pioneering move.

Efforts to bring back to life a part of the Atlantic Forest, one of the greatest forests on Earth, begin with the first tree planting activities, led by the Salgados with participation of school children from the municipality of Aimorés.

A plant nursery is established, initially producing 80,000 seedlings a year. By collecting seeds from native trees over a 200 km radius, it is possible to restore local biodiversity. Along with plants, endangered animals start to return.

Instituto Terra expands its educational outreach and launches a new program: Olhos D’Água, aimed at protecting and restoring around 300,000 springs along the Rio Doce watershed. Other initiatives engage students and researchers in climate resilience, support local farmers in sustainable land use, and guide policymakers on how Instituto Terra’s model can be adapted and scaled to facilitate environmental recovery across regions with similar challenges. The programs go beyond restoring landscapes, aspiring to foster a new generation of environmental leaders.

After the collapse of the Fundão Dam, that pollutes the Rio Doce with toxic sludge, Instituto Terra intensifies restoration efforts. It launches initiatives to recover affected areas, planting trees to stabilize soil and protect waterways.

Zurich joins forces with the Salgados and Instituto Terra to create the Zurich Forest Project. Zurich initially establishes a grant to enable the planting of one million seedlings of native trees over an eight-year period (2020-2027). Yet even these first steps encompass much more than planting trees. The aim is to restore biodiversity and revive an entire ecosystem, including by improving water resources, providing education, and promoting sustainable agriculture practices. Achieving this, Instituto Terra can serve as a model for other communities well beyond the Rio Doce Valley.

Zurich becomes the main global sponsor of Amazônia. A striking photo exhibition featuring more than 200 of Sebastião Salgado’s black and white images, it sends a powerful message about the fragile balance between humans and nature.

Sebastião Salgado joins Zurich’s Group CEO Mario Greco at the ‘Zurich Talks: Future Planet’ event. He endorses the collaboration’s aims, but calls for more joint efforts on a much broader scale to enhance a shared vision.

Zurich provides Instituto Terra with the means to acquire additional land for conservation and restoration. The purchases, completed in 2024, more than triple the project’s area from just over 700 hectares to more than 2,400 hectares.

Instituto Terra celebrates its 25th anniversary. Juliano Salgado, the new president, launches Terra Doce, an initiative to restore 4,000 springs, plant two million trees, and promote agroforestry in the Rio Doce Basin.

Lélia Wanick Salgado earns major recognition for her restoration work by receiving the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. Sebastião Salgado is named among the most influential people on the TIME100 Climate list.

With Zurich’s support, Instituto Terra starts building a new plant nursery, producing over one million seedlings per year – with plans to double capacity. This nursery is at the heart of its reforestation effort and plays a key role in its Terra Doce project. It will significantly enhance the ability to meet the growing demand for large-scale ecological restoration. Zurich also funds essential equipment, including machinery, a refilling station, solar power systems, and a new bus to transport workers safely around the property. These enhancements will allow Instituto Terra to gain efficiency and increase its productivity.

The Amazônia exhibition surpasses 2.5 million visitors and continues its global journey through some of the world’s cultural capitals including Paris, Rome, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Singapore, and Zurich.

Supported by the Z Zurich Foundation, Instituto Terra’s educational program, NERE, will now expand its scope to incorporate skills training and support youth to help build sustainable livelihoods.