The Terra Institute has just launched its new website – and with it, a new virtual gallery of photos by Sebastião Salgado, the fruit of one of the artist’s last photographic expeditions. For months, between 2022 and 2023, Sebastião walked the trails in Aimorés (MG), closely following the complete restoration cycle: from seed collection to forest regeneration.
They were intense months of observation and recording. Sebastião photographed the territory from every angle: the nursery where the seedlings are born, the technicians who restore the soil, the young apprentices from NERE, the replanted forests, the animals that have returned and the farmers who are partners in the Terra Doce program. The expedition has become a sensitive and powerful collection on ecosystem restoration.
These images have not been stored in drawers. They are scattered all over Instituto Terra’s new website – and that’s precisely what makes it so special. With each click, the visitor not only finds data, programs and institutional history, but also photographs that reveal the essence of the work carried out for 26 years in the Doce River Valley.
It’s an immersive experience: the informative content and Sebastião’s records intertwine, creating an in-depth portrait of a territory that, once degraded, now pulses with life. More than a tribute, this gallery is a celebration of the reunion between humanity and nature.
Sebastião Salgado’s expedition also marks a symbolic return to the origins of Instituto Terra, which he and Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado founded in 1998. By revisiting this place with camera in hand, Sebastião accompanied the maturing of a collective dream – now converted into forest, knowledge and models of sustainable development.
The photos reveal not only the transformed landscape, but also the faces and gestures of those who make the restoration happen every day: farmers, educators, environmental technicians, mobilizers, young people and children. The images speak of effort, belonging and continuity.
The new website organizes this content in a clear and accessible structure, also bringing together publications, videos, reports and details about each program. It is a platform that integrates technical knowledge, institutional memory and real impact on the territory.
Browsing through the pages, visitors are invited to see for themselves how a bold idea – replanting an entire forest – became a reality. And more: how this reality continues to be cultivated, seedling by seedling, person by person, year after year.
Visit the new site, explore each image, immerse yourself in the stories. Because restoring is also about sharing beauty, inspiration and the future.