

Formigas-de-Embaúba

Implementation partner
Educating children and teenagers about the environment is planting seeds for the future. From this perspective, the Instituto Justiça (IJ) created an initiative focused on environmental regeneration through education, with a set of pedagogical actions that strengthen the bond between children, educators, and nature.
The initiative is part of the RegeneRaízes program, which supports projects aimed at environmental and climate regeneration based on education, community participation, and reconnection with territories. Through it, we seek to stimulate practices that promote healthier ecosystems and more conscious, just, and resilient societies.
Impact
1.340 m²
Planted area
23 ton +
CO² compensated*
1.000 +
Impacted families
136
Distinct species
1.569
Impacted students
3.169
Planted trees
To implement this work, IJ partnered with the implementing partner Formigas-de-Embaúba, a non-profit organization that has been transforming the relationship of thousands of students with nature through an ambitious project: bringing mini-forests to public schools in Greater São Paulo, planting thousands of native Atlantic Forest trees in poorly wooded urban areas.
This initiative combines education, environmental regeneration, and collective mobilization. It occurs through two complementary paths:
- Training of public school teachers, so they can develop environmental education projects with their students.
- Participatory planting of mini-forests within the schools themselves, with the direct involvement of children, educators, and communities.
Over months of activities integrated into the curriculum, students learn about soil, vegetation, water availability, climate change, and food production.
The planting marks the conclusion of this educational journey — a symbolic moment, with the presence of the local community, like a graduation in the forest.
More than just a landscape, these mini-forests provide shade, reduce ambient temperature, purify the air, produce food, and can become outdoor classrooms. They are living spaces that educate, inspire, and connect.
To ensure they thrive and become part of the communities, each mini-forest is monitored for a period of two years after planting, with technical visits and support from specialists.
The Justice Institute has been carrying out these plantings in selected schools since 2022 and contributes monthly to the maintenance of the Embaúba Ants, through donations aimed at their structural support, to strengthen the sustainability of the organization and its capacity for action.
The goal, in addition to planting trees, is to educate people who understand the value of ecosystems and the urgency of preserving them.
To take care of the planet is to educate with purpose
We at the Justice Institute believe that education and nature go hand in hand. Through the partnership with Embaúba Ants, we reaffirm our commitment to environmental regeneration, social equity, and building a fairer and more sustainable future.
Shall we plant this idea together?