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Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado

Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado

Co-founder and Director, Instituto Terra

Appears in 1 story

Notable Quotes

"The land was as sick as I was—everything was destroyed. Only about 0.5% of the land was covered in trees. Then my wife had a fabulous idea to replant this forest." (Sebastião, attributing the vision to Lélia)

Stories

From barren ranch to living forest: Instituto Terra's 2.5 million tree proof-of-concept

Built World

Leading Instituto Terra following Sebastião's death in 2025

In 1998, renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado returned from documenting the Rwandan genocide to find his family's Brazilian cattle ranch stripped bare—just 0.5% of its original Atlantic Forest remained. His wife Lélia proposed something audacious: rebuild the entire ecosystem from scratch. By mid-2025, Instituto Terra had planted over 7 million trees from 293 native species, restored 2,068 springs, and transformed 1,700 acres of eroded pastureland into a forest dense enough to see from space. After Sebastião's death in May 2025, Lélia and a team of ecologists continue expanding the institute's environmental education programs, which have now reached over 88,000 people.

Updated Jan 30