Reforestation done right: Reforestation sponsorship supporting the work of Instituto Terra in Brazil.

Pledge by Zurich Insurance Group

This pledge will take place from 2020 to 2028

Pledge overview

The Zurich Forest is a project in collaboration with Instituto Terra, a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by Lélia and Sebastião Salgado in Brazil. Zurich has specifically chosen a collaboration with Instituto Terra to help rebuild a key area of biodiversity and raise awareness of the plight of what’s known as ‘the other Brazilian rainforest’: Instituto Terra aims to re-create native forests, restore the biodiversity of plants and animals, protect soil, and to revive and maintain water sources on the former cattle farm “Bulcão” in the Doce river valley in Brazil. Zurich’s grant covers the planting of one million seedlings of up to 120 scientifically selected native species, supporting the growth of healthy native forest.

Actions in this pledge

Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes - 700 hectares of land

• Reforestation
• Other restoration and tree growing activities

Kick off in 2020 with specific sponsorship of Instituto Terra over an 8 year period. Close collaboration and annual reporting. Intention to expand our engagement on sustainable (re)forestation and biodiversity protection both in scale and geographically.

Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes

• Nursery and seedling development
• Sustainable forest management
• Data collection, management and technological tools

Close collaboration with Instituto Terra with regular updates and an audited annual report.

Carbon benefits

Carbon sequestration: 1 million tonnes of CO2e

Duration: over 8 years

Our ecologically and socially responsible approach

Instituto Terra is recognised as a Private Reserve of Natural Estate (PRNE) created in a degraded area. It is dedicated to environmental restoration and sustainable rural development in Vale do Rio Doce. Their main activities encompass the recovery of the ecosystem, environmental expansion, environmental education and the development of sustainable business.

Our results tracking

Annual reporting (number of species, employees employed, trees planted, etc)

Ecological metrics

Biodiversity protection and re-creation

Social metrics

Employment and jobs

Our partners

Instituto Terra

Our locations

We are working at locations across Brazil.

Focusing in areas of tropical dry forest: Mata Atlantica, Doce river valley in Brazil

Our implementation progress

Pledge implementation progress reporting is managed in collaboration with IUCN’s Restoration Barometer, and is required annually from the year following pledge publication.

Zurich Insurance Group pledge implementation progress report 2022 (with supporting documentation)

Zurich pledge implementation progress dashboard 2023 (with supporting documentation)