Helping restore life to Lake Parnaguá: Jaine’s story

Lake Parnaguá is one of the largest natural lakes in Brazil, providing water for a number of surrounding towns. And it is on the brink of disappearing. Jaine Carvalho built a strong connection to Lake Parnaguá as she grew up fishing on the lake with her father. When the lake dried up in 2012 due to deforestation, Jaine knew she had to find a way to prevent that from happening again. She studied environmental management in school, but there were few job opportunities when she graduated. When we began working in Brazil, Jaine joined our team as a Nursery Manager. Since she joined our team, the Parnaguá nursery has grown to house over 40,000 native seedlings, and Jaine and her team see their work’s positive impact on the environment and the community. To learn more about the work our Brazil team is doing, visit We are a non-profit organization with a mission to offer the dignity of employment to people living in impoverished communities who become transformational agents of global forest restoration. We employ and empower thousands of people living in extreme poverty and provide them with the education and tools necessary to plant, grow, and protect millions of trees each year. Through steady employment, they can afford daily necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, and medicine.