Faces of Restoration Bruno Mariani: From Banker to "Tree Whisperer"

The document profiles Bruno Mariani and his company, Symbiosis Investimentos, which transforms degraded cattle pasture in Bahia, Brazil, into productive native forests. By applying silviculture techniques—including genetic improvement and cloning—the company aims to produce high-quality hardwoods while conserving biodiversity. The model seeks to prove that native forest restoration is more profitable than low-yield cattle ranching, potentially offering a scalable solution for Brazil's 65 million hectares of degraded land.

• Symbiosis Investimentos employs a business model that balances production and conservation by putting 60% of its land under production and conserving 40%, aiming to provide a return on investment while restoring the fragmented Atlantic Forest.
• The company utilizes 'silviculture,' a scientific approach to native tree farming that involves genetic improvement and cloning to increase productivity, uniformity, and pest resistance. The company has the capacity to produce 500,000 native tree seedlings annually and has planted over 2,200 acres.
• Research indicates that avoiding monocultures in favor of planting multiple species together reduces the risk of disease and pests while diversifying income, as faster-growing trees can be harvested while slower-growing hardwoods continue to mature.
• A WRI Brasil study suggests that investing in the research and development of native trees is highly lucrative, estimating that every $1 invested in research could generate more than $2 in returns over 20 years due to productivity gains.
• Native tree silviculture is presented as a more economically viable alternative to cattle ranching on Brazil's 65 million hectares of degraded pasture; an evaluation tool showed an annual return on investment of 14% for native tree farming, which exceeds the returns from low-productivity ranching.
• Beyond economic gains, the restoration of degraded landscapes with native species provides environmental benefits including improved soil and water quality, carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change, and the creation of refuges for endangered species.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Faces of Restoration Bruno Mariani: From Banker to "Tree Whisperer". https://www.wri.org/faces-restoration/bruno-reforestation-brazil

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Faces of Restoration Bruno Mariani: From Banker to "Tree Whisperer". n.d. https://www.wri.org/faces-restoration/bruno-reforestation-brazil.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Faces of Restoration Bruno Mariani: From Banker to "Tree Whisperer" |url=https://www.wri.org/faces-restoration/bruno-reforestation-brazil |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendfaces, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Faces of Restoration Bruno Mariani: From Banker to "Tree Whisperer"}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/faces-restoration/bruno-reforestation-brazil}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }