Center For Environmental Education and Restoration - CERA

From the moment they founded the
Instituto Terra, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado, saw the
institute as serving as a beacon to awaken environmental awareness of the need
to restore and conserve forest land. Recognizing education and research as key
components of this strategy, on February 19, 2002, the Instituto Terra created
the Center for Environmental Education and Restoration (CERA).
Its mission is to contribute to the
process of environmental restoration and to the sustainable development of the
Atlantic Forest, with special emphasis on the Basin of the River Doce. Through CERA, new technologies are shared,
throwing fresh light on existing models of development. The ultimate aim is to
engage new participants in the battle to achieve sustainable development.
By December 2012, over 700
educational projects had been developed, embracing 65,000 people in more than
170 municipalities of the Valley of the River Doce, covering both the states of
Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. Some projects have reached as far as the states
of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.
The strategy of CERA is to approach individuals
in positions to play key roles in local and regional environmental restoration
and conservation: professors and instructors in technical, agricultural and
forestry schools; teachers in elementary and high schools; town mayors,
environmental secretaries, political leaders and, most importantly, the rural
producers of the region.
Center of Studies in Ecosystem Restoration

Inaugurated
in August 2004, the Center of Studies in Ecosystem Restoration was created to
provide post-technical, theoretical and practical training to agricultural, environmental and forestry
specialists. The
objective of the Center is to become a benchmark in the qualification of
professionals who can be effective in the recovery of devastated areas and in
environmental restoration and appraisal.
They should also be trained in the sustainable use of natural resources
and in alternative techniques for the production, administration and management
of rural properties.
Construction
of a student residence and acquisition of necessary equipment were made possible
by Philips of Brazil and the Florindon Foundation in Switzerland. The research for developing the curriculum was financed by
the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Functioning
essentially as a boarding school providing professional training, the Center of
Studies in Ecosystem Restoration offers ten scholarships each year. The students are lodged, fed and clothed and receive a
monthly allowance. The training in agricultural techniques designed to restore
and preserve the Atlantic Forest is aimed at a very specific public: the
farmers of the central region of the Valley of the River Doce as well as
businesses and the Government. In this
way, the Instituto Terra aspires to use its experience of reforesting Bulcão
Farm to encourage adoption of models of sustainable agriculture in the region.