According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 129 million hectares of forest have been permanently lost since 1990, an area almost equivalent to that of South Africa. 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of deforestation, and every day countless plant and animal species are stripped of their natural habitat. But if you think that one person is not able to help nature, then you are wrong.
Every year, mankind destroys forest cover on an area equal to the area of Panama. 15 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of deforestation, and every day countless plant and animal species are stripped of their natural habitat. Our planet needs to be saved. And if you think that one person is not able to help nature, then you are wrong.
Brazilian photographer Sebastian Salgado and his wife Lelia Deluis Vanik set out to show what a small group of dedicated people can do.
Sebastian Salgado has won nearly every major photojournalism award, and has published over half a dozen books. In the 1990s, physically and emotionally exhausted after documenting the Rwandan genocide, he returned to his home state in Brazil. The photographer was horrified to see the once lush rainforest transform into a wasteland. However, his wife Lelia believed that they could restore the lost flora and fauna.
“The earth was as depleted as I was - everything was destroyed,” Salgado said in a 2015 interview. - Only about 0.5% of the land was covered with trees. My wife had an incredible idea to plant a forest. When we got down to this business, all the insects, birds and fish returned, and thanks to this I was also reborn, this was the most important moment."
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The couple founded Instituto Terra, a small organization that has since planted 4 million seedlings and revitalized the forest.
“There is only one creature that converts CO2 into oxygen - a tree. We need to grow forests. Only those trees that are common in the region need to be planted, otherwise snakes and termites will not return. If you plant other trees, the animals will not come to the forest."
For 20 years, the organization has managed to turn a lifeless wasteland into a tropical paradise. Where there used to be dead silence, a cacophony of bird calls and buzzing insects now spreads.
In total, about 172 species of birds returned to the forest, as well as 33 species of mammals, 293 species of plants, 15 species of reptiles and 15 species of amphibians - an entire ecosystem restored from scratch.
The project inspired millions of people and showed how quickly the environment can be restored with the right approach.
Author: Katarina