As Brazil grapples with the COVID-19 crisis and rising rates of deforestation, some are fighting back to restore the natural environment while honouring the memory of their lost loved ones.

Bereaved families and civil society organizations, with the support of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve and the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, which include some of Brazil’s most respected restoration scientists, launched a tree-planting, wildlife conservation and restoration drive on 12 December 2020 to honour the memories of those who have lost their lives to COVID-19 and to thank health workers. The Pact is helping restoration efforts across 17 states in Brazil.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is helping the Remembrance Forests campaign to raise its profile and visibility in line with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. Among other things, it will be engaging with civil society organizations to ensure that the native tree seedlings are properly nurtured to maturity.

The goal is to plant 200,000 trees in memory of the roughly 200,000 lives lost to COVID-19 in Brazil. The initiative will run until World Environment Day on 5 June.

“This action is very meaningful due to the fact that trees are life and a connection with mother nature,” says Rafael da Silva de Lima from São Paulo whose father, Reginaldo Alves de Lima, and cousin, Edna Maria de Almeida, were victims of the virus.

Continue reading the full story at UN Environment.

For more information, please contact Matheus Couto: matheus.couto@unep-wcmc.org