Sebastião Salgado and his rainforest legacy

Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior
(8 February 1944 – 23 May 2025)
 

Sebastião Salgado died this week. He was an award-winning Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist. Many of the major news sources have marked his passing by talking about his excellent photography. I wanted to write this to point out what I think is his greatest legacy, the restoration of a rainforest in the Atlantic rainforest area in eastern Brazil, north of Rio de Janeiro and the founding of the non-profit Instituto Terra, which is carrying his rainforest work forward around the world.

Here is what the institute posted on their site:
“Sebastião was much more than one of the greatest photographers of our time. Alongside his life partner, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, he sowed hope where there was devastation and brought to life the belief that environmental restoration is also a profound act of love for humanity. His lens revealed the world and its contradictions; his life, the power of transformative action.”

In 1999, Sebastião and Lélia started seedlings of
290 species native to that area.

Sebastião and Lélia Salgado had been away from their native Brazilian state, north of Rio de Janeiro for 15 years.
They were horrified to see all the deforestation even on some of their own family property. Lélia, a landscape architect, had the idea that they could reforest the property. Sebastião agreed and so they raised funds, found sponsors, and founded Instituto Terra.

They took over the management of a family property, a worn out 1,700-acre cattle ranch at the edge of the rainforest. It was designated as a Private Natural Heritage Reserve (PNHR) and sets a wonderful example of how to successfully restore a rainforest.

The Salgados and their workers went out for the first seed planting in December 1999 and continued to do so for several years. Their group used the research from the reforestation projects in Costa Rica and elsewhere that showed that wide variety of native species makes all the difference. They planted more than two million seedlings of 290 native species of trees. And the result was amazing! 

From above, the seedlings grew to green up the property as seen from satelitte.

All those native seedlings made a huge difference in the local ecosystem.

These satellite photos and other photos show the overall growth. In addition, there has been a return of 293 additional species of native plants and many types of animals have moved into the forest.  

Being a photographer, Sebastião recorded many of the animals that returned to the area.

Now the Institute is working on outreach and to help others achieve similar results in Brazil and elsewhere. Because of the resilience of natural ecosystems many think that this project offers hope for the world’s rainforests. 

For details on this project, read this case study.

We all share the same planet, so it's up to us to take better care it so our grandkids can have better lives. What will be your legacy? Even if it's not as huge as the Salgado's projects, we all can make a difference. 

I've been telling the Salgados' inspiring rainforest restoration story for years. It's part of my rainforest presentation that I have been giving on cruise ships since 2017.  

Green Gardening Matters
Ginny Stibolt