São Paulo, a Generation Restoration role model city, has undergone a major land acquisition effort, designating 26% of São Paulo’s territory for environmental preservation. Its large-scale urban reforestation efforts resulted in over 310,000 trees planted since 2019, and its urban nature-based solutions include more than 300 rain gardens, linear parks, green corridors, and a pioneering payment for ecosystem services scheme.

About the city

São Paulo is located in the southeast of Brazil, approximately 70 kilometers inland from the Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of approximately 12 million people within its city limits, and approximately 22 million people in its metro area, making it the largest city in Brazil and one of the largest cities in the world. São Paulo has a humid, subtropical climate with hot summers and milder winters, with substantial rainfall throughout the year. It is an important financial and cultural center in Brazil, known as a hub for industry, agriculture, and services.

Local challenges

São Paulo faces abundant rainfall, with projections for extreme precipitation events to increase with climate change. This poses associated risks of flooding and landslides, particularly among vulnerable and low-income communities. At the same time, São Paulo faces periods of droughts and water shortages, and extreme temperatures and heatwaves are also projected to increase. The city’s rapid expansion and demand for agriculture has resulted in biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation, particularly its forest habitats. Air and water pollution also pose challenges, particularly due to unequal distribution of environmental services throughout the city.

How the city leads in restoration

São Paulo leads in restoration through extensive environmental protection and restoration of green spaces around the city. Many of its restoration actions are guided by the São Paulo Municipality's Climate Action Plan (PlanClima SP), a comprehensive plan aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Underlying this plan are various strategic areas that incorporate nature-based solutions, including forest restoration, improved water infrastructure, sustainable mobility, and food production. PlanClima SP was institutionalized through a 2021 municipal decree that guarantees its legal continuity, and approved by the C40 Cities network for its alignment with the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. 

São Paulo is in the process of acquiring land, equivalent to 11% of the city of São Paulo, for ecological restoration, and has declared 32 private green areas throughout the city as of public utility. Once acquired, this land will result in a total of 26% of the territory marked for environmental preservation. These sites are essential for mitigating climate change, increasing biodiversity, and providing recreational areas and ecosystem services.

São Paulo is supporting urban reforestation through the Municipal Urban Arborization Plan (PMAU). This plan, which acts as a citywide arborization framework for São Paulo, aims to strengthen urban forests, enhance resilience to climate emergencies, expand biodiversity, and promote wellbeing among city residents. Between 2019 and 2024, São Paulo planted more than 310,000 trees. To manage urban trees, São Paulo is using a digital tree map to monitor trees, catalog species, and identify suitable areas for new plantings.

To complement this, the Conservation Forests initiative creates small forests across the city, which protect against rising temperatures, mitigate the challenges posed by extreme precipitation, and improve air quality, while also serving as biodiversity hotspots, providing resting, feeding, and nesting places for birds. Other notable activities include the creation of the city’s first Municipal Forest, which aims to guarantee environmental preservation while advancing research on products from species from the surrounding Atlantic Rain Forest. 

As of 2024, there were 114 parks in the city, including 84 urban parks, 24 linear parks, and 6 natural parks. A notable project includes the Caulim Linear Park, which is located between two reservoirs in the city and features the use of nature-based solutions for interventions within the Caulim Stream. Its planning, design, and implementation involve collaborations between the Municipal Secretary for Green and Environment, the Housing Secretariat, and researchers at ABC Federal University.

Other notable parks include two parks next to the Billings Reservoir, decreasing landslide risks and strengthening the water security of the reservoir. A third park, as part of a series of parks on the Cantareira Border, aims to prevent occupation of the slopes of the Serra de Cantareira. A firefighting component in this park aims to improve firefighting efficiency and reduce biodiversity loss. Additional parks are under construction.

Other initiatives to increase green space within urban areas include the Bosques Urbanos (Urban Forest) project. This project promotes planting in public green areas, and is implemented in collaboration with various government agencies. Furthermore, the implementation of green corridors, which include planting of appropriate species, circulation of wildlife, and increased biodiversity, serve to connect parks and squares, and provide safe, shaded, pedestrian friendly paths by which people can move throughout the city. The Butantã Green Corridor is the first of many green corridors to be implemented in São Paulo.

São Paulo has also created over 300 rain gardens to mitigate the impacts of flooding, minimize urban heat island effects, increase soil humidity, and contribute to improved mental health. Rain gardens soak up and filter stormwater and relieve pressure on sewer systems, and are often implemented in locations with historic flooding, such as wedged into car-crammed streets in the form of vagas verdes or green parking spaces.

São Paulo has a robust payment for ecosystem services scheme, allocating more than 840,000 BRL (approximately 160,000 USD) to small rural producers since the program’s inception in 2022. The program rewards landowners who maintain or restore areas of native vegetation, protect springs and riparian forests, or adopt ecological production systems, and has resulted in the restoration of more than 100,000 square-meters of degraded areas. 

São Paulo is a multiple-time winner of the FAO/UN Tree Cities of the World certificate, for its commitment to sustainable urban forestry. 

Highlight impact metrics

  • 310,000 trees planted since 2019
  • More than 100 parks across the city
  • 300+ rain gardens implemented
  • 11% of the city area being acquired for ecological restoration
  • 100,000 m2 of degraded areas restored, and 840,000 BRL paid, via payment for ecosystem services
  • 32 private areas declared public green areas

Role Model City

City Map

Ecosystem Types

Farmlands, Forests y Urban areas

Climate, Biodiversity, and Pollution Risks Addressed

  • Extreme temperatures
  • Droughts
  • Extreme precipitation / flooding
  • Habitat destruction
  • Species loss / extinction
  • Ecosystem degradation
  • Air pollution

Restoration Techniques Applied

  • Ecological connectivity
  • Erosion control
  • Native species
  • Parks & green spaces
  • Riverbank restoration
  • Soil restoration
  • Sponge city infrastructure
  • Tree planting
  • Urban forests

Beyond restoration

One innovative example of São Paulo’s commitment to integrating questions of equity into its environmental projects includes its Environmental Quota (EQ) system, to address the uneven distribution of green spaces in the city. The EQ system makes it mandatory for anyone seeking a license to build or renovate buildings to consider greenery and calculate the EQ for a proposed development. Developments must have an EQ that is either equal to or greater than the minimum EQ established by legislation. Developments that exceed the minimum EQ score by a certain amount would receive urban incentives, such as discounts on the financial contribution for the right to build or additional non-computable areas. 

Furthermore, São Paulo has been the convener of multiple major events, such as the ICLEI World Congress, the Urban 20 Mayors' Summit, the Metropolis Executive Council meeting, the Mercocities Council meeting, the Virada ODS (a SDG festival), the 3rd Brazilian Trails Congress, and the C40 Workshop on urban planning and nature.

What other cities can learn

São Paulo offers the following experience:

  • São Paulo City has been developing a long-term ‘state policy’ regarding environmental sustainability. This means that, regardless of political or administrative turnover, the core policies for nature conservation and the promotion of sustainability remain in place and keep evolving. A key reason for this continuity is the enhancement of public policies based on evidence. This is not treated only as a concept but a concrete commitment by the Mayor’s Hall, supported by consistent institutional capacity.

Further resources