Brands can make a difference for a more balanced planet

I am native to the Atlantic Forest. I was born in a city that has the Itapeti mountain on one side and the Mar mountain range on the other. Mogi das Cruzes is also crossed by the Tietê River, which rises very close, in Salesópolis.

Since I was a child, I know this place well. My father piloted single-engine aircraft, and spent many weekends with him flying over and visiting this region and other parts of the biome. The landscape seen from the sky is something extraordinary and this exercise helped a lot, years later, between 1994 and 2021, when I coordinated the Atlas of the Atlantic Forest, a tool to monitor deforestation, developed by Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and Inpe (Instituto Nacional de Space Research).

From my eyes on the horizon, I became an environmentalist, amplifying the vision with the eyes of the satellites. At work, I could observe, indignantly and sadly, many areas deforested, burned and devastated. The knowledge only increased my will to fight more and more in defense of the Atlantic Forest. I had the opportunity to admire many preserved and protected forests. And also to meet many people, communities, organizations, initiatives and their incredible stories.

A trail in the Atlantic Forest is one of my favorite things to do. It affects 17 states, 3,429 municipalities, 16 capitals and the main metropolises — as it is home to two-thirds of the population. It also houses beautiful parks and reserves, little visited.

The biome concentrates 80% of our GDP, with many companies and economic activities installed. When I started to act in this cause, there were few allied companies. Then, the subject became fashionable and green marketing emerged. For a time, it was difficult to distinguish companies that took the environment seriously from those that just wanted to promote themselves. But some continued to evolve, pursuing more sustainable production, with less impact and supporting NGOs and initiatives committed to the environmental cause.

With ESG principles, more companies have adopted best practices. Brands, with great reach and resources, can make a difference for a more balanced environment and quality of life. The way they relate to nature and stimulate their audience towards a sustainable agenda is crucial.

Brazil has enormous potential to promote development allied to nature conservation, including tourism, generating work and income for communities and local entrepreneurs. We need more consumers of nature, in a good way.

Nature can touch and mark people with good experiences and be good for our health. I dream of a prosperous future for the Atlantic Forest, which has been designated a national heritage site for its importance to the country and which was named after a tree in the biome. This future will be achieved with the real commitment of companies and society as a whole.