Our Story

James Tiburcio holds a PhD in Sustainable Development and spent nearly eight years in India with his wife Sílvia, working alongside grassroots communities. That experience revealed a critical truth: environmental degradation, poverty, and food insecurity are inseparable.

Together, they founded SamaÚma to restore Brazil's most damaged ecosystems—mangrove forests along the Maranhão coast, Cerrado savannas, and Atlantic rainforests. Deforestation, unsustainable land use, and climate pressures have devastated these landscapes, threatening biodiversity, fisheries, water security, and local incomes. Coastal communities face mounting vulnerability to erosion and flooding.

SamaÚma's approach is unique: they combine ecological restoration with dignified employment and community resilience. Operating entirely without pesticides or herbicides, the team collects native seeds, runs nurseries, plants trees, and partners directly with Indigenous, quilombola, and traditional communities.

Restoration here means more than planting trees—it means rebuilding the ecological foundations that communities depend on to thrive. Over the next year, SamaÚma plans to expand across Brazil and beyond, transforming degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems where native vegetation flourishes, wildlife returns, and local economies strengthen.