OUR FOUNDERS
Felipe Villela
As March represents the change in seasons we thought it would be a great opportunity to share the story of our ambassador Felipe Villela. A young nature-passionate Brazilian that is working on changing our world by providing systemic solutions to reverse climate change and make agroforestry mainstream.
Starting from the beginning... Felipe's first connection to nature started at home, as his mom used to take him to the rain-forest to breathe and meditate. Ever since, he loves spending time in the woods to refresh and re-energise. This brought him to dedicate his life to the environment. He has been working in the sustainable agricultural space since he was young. It was his family that inspired him to spend time in the forest. However, when he went to the Amazon Rain-forest to be inspired he saw how much deforestation is taking place in the borders of the Amazon. That has made him decide to become an entrepreneur in this space of Agroforestry & Regenerative Agriculture.
Felipe is the CEO & Co-founder reNature, a wonderful organization that aims to regenerate one million hectares by 2030 applying regenerative agroforestry techniques.
They’ve mapped all the major commodities causing deforestation globally and now are working on developing a portfolio of regenerative commodity production to prove that it’s more economically viable to transition than keep doing conventional agriculture.
When asked about the biggest satisfaction in his work, he answers “Waking up every day knowing that we can regenerate the planet in time.”
I agree, this is a great opportunity for us all to make a change in our lives, become more sustainable and help with the planting of trees.
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When asked for his thoughts about the current situation at the Amazon rain-forest. Felipe said that it “will continue to be deforested if no one proofs that it’s more profitable to leave the forest standing or find replacement crops to help local communities and farmers to adopt new agricultural systems. Therefore our work in the Amazon has inspired many to transition to Agroforestry practices thanks to the dialogue between agriculture and environment.”
How can we change things?
By “convincing every single corporation to adopt regenerative agroforestry practices worldwide.”
Felipe doesn’t just “talk the talk”, he “walks the walk”. He is a vegetarian, he does not drive cars, only uses public transportation or rides the bike, he avoids single-use plastics at home, and he only buys clothes that use regenerative practices.
Felipe, like all of us at 1treellion believes that we need to plant trillions of trees to start changing things. And if you are reading this you already know that.
We finished our wonderful chat with my favorite question: What’s your favorite tree and why?
Felipe didn’t have to think, “Brazilian Nut” he said, “because it’s so big that I can’t hug myself so I invite more people to join.”
To know more about his work you can check out their site at reNature.co
