Foundation - Instituto Terra

Instituto Terra Foundation was established in Switzerland in September 2025, to raise the international profile of Instituto Terra’s work in Brazil and develop philanthropic, academic and other mission-aligned strategic partnerships to support the development of the Terra Doce programme.

The foundation is governed by Swiss non-profit law with its own board, presided by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.

Instituto Terra is a Brazilian non-profit organisation established in 1998 by Sebastião Salgado, renown socio-documentary photographer and Lélia Wanick Salgado.

In the following 28 years, degraded farmland of more than 1600 hectares close to the Doce river in the state of Minas Gerais was restored and preserved. In parallel with education and vocational training for young people to raise awareness and promote environmental action, the results have been remarkable, with wildlife returning, water tables recovering and the Atlantic Forest thriving.

SOWING THE SEEDS FOR RURAL PROSPERITY

The Terra Doce programme seeks to sow the seeds for long term, lasting rural prosperity combining restoration, strategic agroforestry and education in the Rio Doce basin.

WHAT WE DO

Swiss and European partnerships

We strengthen relationships with existing partners and cultivate new philanthropic and funding partnerships in Switzerland and across Europe to support the Terra Doce programme.

Technical partnerships

We partner with organizations active in ecological restoration, agroforestry water stewardship, climate action or market-based approaches to to build more sustainable agricultural value chains.

Academic partnerships

We build partnerships with academic institutions to promote shared learning, conduct research and exchange knowledge to support our Terra Doce programme in Brazil.