The IMG Group is intensifying its efforts to combat deforestation through a comprehensive, multi-tiered strategy, encompassing policy development, operational practices, and community engagement. Forest protection is crucial for sustaining ecosystems, preserving biodiversity and addressing climate change.
In line with this commitment, the IMG Group founded Renewis, a company dedicated to creating a sustainable and thriving future through reforestation and green energy solutions. Within Renewis, the division Renewis Nature focuses specifically on IMG Group’s reforestation goals. Based in Santo Tirso, Portugal, a region prone to forest fires, Renewis Nature has decades of experience in tree planting and forest management.
Expanding its efforts beyond Portugal, Renewis has recently formalised a collaborative agreement with Instituto Terra in April 2024. Founded in 1998 by Léia Deluiz Wanick Salgado and the renowned Brazilian photographer, Sebastião Salgado, Instituto Terra is a non-profit organisation committed to environmental preservation and reforestation. Touched by the environmental degradation in his home region of Doce River Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil, Sebastião Salgado’s work often highlights pressing environmental issues, leading to the establishment of Instituto Terra.
Since its first planting in December 1999, Instituto Terra boasts a young forest of 709.87 hectares, covered by more of 3 million native trees, 88,932 people served by environmental education projects. This partnership aims to restore and conserve the Atlantic Forest in the Doce River Valley, one of the most biodiverse yet threatened ecosystems in the world.
The primary objective of this partnership is to plant 30,000 native Atlantic Forrest tree seedlings in a single area acquired by Instituto Terra, in the central region of Doce River Valley. Depending on land conditions, it is estimated that 13 to 18 hectares will be planted through the Renewis Reforest project. This region is currently degraded and deforested, making reforestation efforts critical. Planting activities are scheduled for the rainy season from October 2024 to January 2025.
Through this initiative, the IMG Group reaffirms its dedication to environmental sustainability, its responsibility to combat reforestation and its commitment to promoting biodiversity conservation.