movimento reFloresta & Trufflepig
Nowhere on Earth makes it easier to reconnect with the natural world than the Amazon rainforest. I caught my first glimpse of that truth 27 years ago, the moment I set foot beneath its canopy.
Like so many places, our idea of the Amazon is shaped by headlines and documentaries—and almost always for the worse. It’s portrayed as dangerous, hostile, even life-threatening. The reality could not be more different. This is where life truly thrives. You can swim in many of the rivers. There are vast areas with surprisingly few mosquitoes. When I took Anton from the Trufflepig planning team into the forest, he summed it up perfectly: “This is the most myth-exploding trip I’ve ever taken.”
For more than 20 years, I’ve been taking people by boat through the Amazon. I’ve watched the rivers, the forest, and the sky—each immense in its own way—gently overwhelm even the most seasoned travellers. I’ve also had the privilege of hosting Trufflepig travellers, many of whom were so deeply moved by the experience that they went on to make substantial donations to initiatives that support Amazonian communities. After all, it is the people of the forest who will ultimately keep it standing.
I still love bringing travelers to the Amazon. But over the last five years, my focus has shifted—toward the next generation. Roughly 20% of the Amazon has been destroyed in my lifetime, and I no longer believe the solutions will come from my generation. At best, we can act as stewards, creating space for younger voices to imagine better answers than we ever did.
With that in mind, I co-founded Movimento Refloresta, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering youth to shape new futures for the rainforest. We organize journeys for young people aged 18 to 27 from across Brazil—many from underprivileged backgrounds—to spend a week living in Indigenous villages alongside Amazonian youth. And then something remarkable happens. We’ve seen young leaders from the forest step into national conversations about conservation. We’ve helped communities rekindle their sense of unity and build community centers, playgrounds, and shared spaces. Trufflepig has been instrumental in making this possible. Through our shared participation in the 1% for the Planet initiative, we’ve helped channel funds deep into the rainforest—places that would otherwise never have access to them—and, in the process, changed lives.
The Amazon rainforest is the world’s greatest reservoir of biodiversity, one of its largest carbon sinks, a vast rain factory, and a critical source of freshwater. But it is also, when thoughtfully experienced, beautiful, calming, and deeply grounding. A journey here doesn’t just open your eyes—it resets your sense of what truly matters.
Come and see it for yourself.
And if you can, bring your kids.
