Brazil Starts Reforesting Amazon with Startup Deal

The Brazilian government recently opened its first public land auction for reforestation and chose a small company called Re. green to manage a large Amazon plot. Re. green is the only firm that offered to restore 145, 000 acres in the Bom Futuro reserve for four decades. They plan to pay about 0. 7 % of the revenue from carbon credits, which could bring roughly $2 million each year to the project. The startup is part of a growing group that buys damaged land from farmers and ranchers to plant native trees. Bom Futuro will be the first government‑owned area they work on, and an Indigenous Karitiana community will also participate. The Environment Minister praised the deal, saying it turns a climate‑negative situation into something good for people and nature.Scientists warn that the Amazon is close to a tipping point where it could become permanently degraded if deforestation stops but replanting does not happen. Brazil’s new carbon market is drawing private investors who want to grow forests and sell the carbon removed as credits. The auction tested whether large‑scale projects can help Brazil hit its target of restoring 30 million acres by 2030. A second, smaller plot in the same reserve received no bids, but officials remain optimistic because the model is new. By 2027, Brazil hopes to offer about 750 000 acres under this scheme, after mapping over 3. 2 million acres that need restoration.