Who we are

Instituto Terra was born from the dream of Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado, who transformed a once-degraded farm in Aimorés (MG) into a powerful example of environmental rebirth. Since 1998, we have been restoring over 2,300 hectares of Atlantic Forest, with more than 3.5 million trees planted and the return of hundreds of native fauna species.

We promote environmental education through programmes that train young professionals and nurture care for nature from childhood. Today, we are expanding our mission with the Terra Doce programme, which focuses on restoring the Rio Doce basin by supporting rural producers in the recovery of springs and the adoption of sustainable production practices.

Our Mission and Vision

Encourage sustainable development through the recovery and conservation of forests, environmental education and the correct use of natural resources.

Democracy is inherent to our work, because ecological science, critical thinking and the free circulation of ideas depend on it.

We are committed to the scientific method: observation, formulation of hypotheses, experimentation and acceptance or rejection of the hypotheses for validation with our peers.

We believe in ecosystem restoration and environmental preservation as concrete forms of social transformation.

Our work must make a strong contribution to improving the living conditions of living beings.

Respect for ethical and moral precepts above any personal interest or advantage.

Transparency is the keynote of all our actions.

Our partners are entitled to solutions that contain the best technical and managerial knowledge available, at the lowest possible prices and that also allow them to carry out the agreed deliveries with the highest performance.

We must seek the continuous improvement of technical and managerial knowledge, as well as its formalization, with a view to improving our internal processes and passing it on to other organizations.

We cultivate an environment where cooperative work and the confrontation of ideas prevail (respect for opinions), encouraging creativity and initiative.