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The street vendor Nereide Fernandes, 49, had her life strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a significant portion of the Brazilian population. Living in São Paulo, Fernandes lost her job and faced difficulties to take care of her 2-year-old daughter Melissa, who has Down syndrome.

Many years ago, as a little girl, Heni Dwi Windarwati was out walking with her parents when a stranger approached them on the street.  “He walked towards me, seemingly out of the blue, and kissed me on my forehead. I remembered not feeling scared because my parents did not react strongly to it,” she remembers. Her parents explained that the man had a severe mental health condition and did not mean any harm. Years later, this interest in mental health inspired her to get a doctorate in psychiatric nursing. 

World Environment Day, which fell on 5 June, marked the official launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global push to revive natural spaces lost to development. In the lead-up to the Decade’s launch, we are looking back on some of our most popular restoration-related stories, including this piece originally published in September 2020.