Upon entering the Poção do Ribeirão Grande, we encountered exuberant beauty and hungry mosquitoes. The river that cuts through this beautiful landscape, in the past, used to flood nearby houses during intense rains, making it necessary to straighten and widen it to protect the residents, with the collateral destruction of a good part of the riparian forest.

In this beautiful aquatic environment of the Atlantic Forest, we fed part of the riparian forest and the insatiable thirst of dozens of mosquitoes, counting 72 bites in a live broadcast amidst incessant itching.

In addition to the feast, we also restructured critical water areas by inserting logs into the waterbed, providing shelter for small invertebrates.

Carrying the protuberant infant saplings on our backs, local residents and tourists of the Utopia Valley congratulated us after we shared our mission. Following a small forested trail toward the sea, the landscape quickly opens up with the view of the Atlantic in an ambiguous mix of feelings.

To the left, the crescent moon-shaped bay that does justice to the "utopia" part of the name; to the right, incorruptible valleys of pasture, degrading what should be the rich Atlantic Forest.

We followed the valleys and peaks to a forest remnant, thickening it with species adapted to the environment and a Brazilwood (Pau-Brasil), an endangered species after exhaustive exploitation during the Brazilian colonial period. We also installed, all on livestream, an artificial perch for seabirds to have another place to rest.

Near the house of the mother of one of our members, in the Pedra Branca neighborhood in Palhoça, we had the following idea: What if we planted in urban environments as well?

We headed toward a well-known local park where residents exercise at dusk near an artificial lake, which in its early years had little life, but today groups of capybaras nest and graze along the lakeshore, staring fixedly at you as you walk near their offspring.

In a more isolated corner, we placed the saplings on the ground, set up the computer and the Starlink for the livestream, and began exploring the surroundings with the intent of collecting branches suitable for the introduction of artificial perches and decomposing organic matter. One of our members identified a small orange tree sapling with a girl's name underneath it. Others had also taken the same initiative as us; our hearts were filled with joy and hope. We began the planting.

If you have ever been to Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil, you probably know Lagoinha do Leste. It is difficult to explain what this trail represents to me with words, but I will try throughout this prose. We had only 10 saplings, already 7 years old, suitable to withstand the natural competition of the exquisite local Atlantic Forest.

The two of us carried the saplings, along with the planting and livestream equipment, on a one-hour trail full of climbs and descents in the middle of the dense forest. I must tell you that I have been there countless times during the crowded Florianópolis summer, but never with a mission and a weight on my back. Exhausted, we arrived at the highly acclaimed Lagoinha do Leste. The first time I went there, as a young boy with a childhood friend, he told me that it was necessary to step onto the beach sand for the first time with your right foot. And so I did again.