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Bernardo Strassburg, founder and Executive Director of Science at the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS), is among the “101 Brazilians who are shaping the future” selected by O Globo. The list is part of the newspaper’s 101st-anniversary celebrations.

In presenting Strassburg’s profile, the newspaper’s article highlights the scientist’s optimism and efforts regarding Brazil’s commitment—made to the United Nations—to restore 12 million hectares by 2030.

“Brazil’s nature restoration goals are ambitious but entirely achievable: they amount to 5% of the land we have deforested in the country. And much of this can be achieved by working in harmony with nature, which has an enormous capacity to regenerate if we provide a few basic conditions,” Strassburg told the newspaper.

The 12-million-hectare area was defined in the National Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation (Planaveg). The IIS, along with other organizations, supported the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in designing this plan. The article notes that Strassburg also founded the company re.green, which focuses on restoration, in 2021.

In addition to expressing his optimism, the IIS director highlights the importance of advancing structural public policies in the country, such as the financing that the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) provides for the restoration industry, which has become a new economic sector.

Conducting more research remains a key factor, Strassburg notes. “Although we have a solid scientific understanding of the subject—probably the best in the tropics—we still need to invest more in science and technology with restoration on a large scale in mind.”

 

Read the full story (Portuguese)