A COUPLE have brought a destroyed section of rainforest back to life by planting more than two million trees over 20 years.

Photojournalist Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado was horrified to find the once-lush Brazilian rainforest that belonged to his parents had been destroyed by deforestation.

5 Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado was horrified to find the once-lush Brazilian rainforest that belonged to his parents had been destroyed, pictured in 2001 Credit: Instituto Terra

5 The forest is now the tropical paradise that he remembered as a child, pictured in 2019 Credit: Instituto Terra

So he and his wife Lélia replanted the 1,754-acre plot of land around his family’s cattle ranch, only using seeds from the same region.

Now 20 years later, the forest is the tropical paradise that he remembered as a child – and even the insects, birds and fish have returned.

Mr Salgado had just returned home to Brazil in 1994 after spending years covering the Rwandan genocide when he decided to take over the land in Minas Gerais.

“The land was as sick as I was – everything was destroyed,” said Mr Salgado.

5 Mr Salgado and his wife Lélia replanted the 1,754-acre plot of land around his family’s cattle ranch Credit: Instituto Terra

He revealed that only 0.5 per cent of the dried-up land was still covered in trees.

“Then my wife had a fabulous idea to replant this forest,” he said.

“And when we began to do that, then all the insects and birds and fish returned and, thanks to this increase of the trees I, too, was reborn – this was the most important moment.”

The couple set up Instituto Terra with the goal of restoring the 17,000-acre property to its natural state.

They recruited partners and volunteers and transformed the landscape by planting at least two million trees.

Now the area has status as a Private Natural Heritage Reserve and is home to 172 types of birds, 33 varieties of mammals and 15 kinds of reptiles and amphibians.

Hundreds of species of trees and plants now grow there, dried up springs have started flowing again and the micro-climate has changed.

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Mr Salgado hopes his example may inspire others to start replanting the forests with the aim of combating climate change.

“Perhaps we have a solution. There is a single being which can transform CO2 to oxygen, which is the tree,” he said.

“We need to replant the forest.”

5 The couple set up Instituto Terra with the goal of restoring the 17,000-acre property to its natural state Credit: Instituto Terra