re.green uses AI and satellite data to make reforestation pay, restoring Brazil’s Atlantic Forest at scale while protecting its vital biodiversity, and supporting local communities.
Once spanning over 1.3 million square kilometres, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest has been reduced to less than 12% of its original size.
This loss is a major threat to the biodiversity of a landscape home to countless unique species such as jaguars, sloths and toucans, many of which are found nowhere else.
Home to more than 150 million people, the forest is also a critical defence against climate change. Yet its destruction is disrupting regional weather systems and diminishing one of the world’s most vital stores of carbon dioxide.
Despite its importance, economic incentives today still favour destruction over preservation and restoration. re.green reverses this trend, showing that protecting nature can be profitable for planet and people.
re.green makes protecting the Atlantic Forest financially viable. Their unique restoration approach combines AI, drones and satellite imagery with ecological and financial data to quickly identify land with the biggest potential for restoration.
From there, tailored plans are designed to restore each site with diverse, native species. It’s a model that allows nature to return and flourish while also generating revenues from high-quality carbon credits and sustainable timber, creating reliable income streams that support long-term stewardship.
Since they were founded in 2021, re.green has expanded across 30,000 hectares and four Brazilian states, with over 12,000 hectares under active restoration. Now working with 22 partner nurseries, including Bioflora, one of Brazil’s largest native species nurseries, they can produce around three million seedlings annually. So far, re.green has planted more than six million seedlings, 4.4 million in 2024 alone, and is aiming for 65 million by 2032.
By purchasing and managing the land, re.green maintains stewardship, enabling them to monitor restoration efforts for years to come. These long-term relationships also allow re.green to work closely with local communities help them build sustainable livelihoods from the forest. So far, they has created over 230 jobs, trained nearly 300 people, and attracted major global investors including Nestlé, Microsoft, Agro Penido, and BNDES.
With a long-term goal to restore one million hectares of forest and capture 15 million tonnes of CO₂ every year, re.green is showing what smart, scalable, and impactful restoration looks like – and one which has huge potential to be replicated in biodiversity hotspots worldwide.
Being a Finalist of The Earthshot Prize means the chance to show the world that forests are green infrastructure.
For centuries, humanity has built roads and cities as infrastructure – often by destroying nature. Now it’s time to rebuild nature itself, at scale, as vital infrastructure for our future; infrastructure that delivers commercial returns alongside community benefits.
We hope our work can serve as a blueprint for large-scale regeneration worldwide, and we’re excited to use the Earthshot platform to inspire others to join this market and make it grow.
