Thiago Belote Silva is the Director of Forests at Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA), a position he has held since February 2025. Thiago is a specialist in forest restoration and environmental policy. He has worked intensively on the recovery of biomes, such as the Brazilian Cerrado, through innovative solutions like agroforestry systems and promoting native species silviculture.
Before joining the MMA, he served as a Restoration Specialist at WWF-Brasil for over five years (Sep 2019 – Feb 2025). His career includes consulting roles at the World Resources Institute and FSC Brasil, and nearly six years as Project Coordinator at the BioAtlântica Institute (IBIO). Belote also has experience with Payments for Environmental Services (PES) mechanisms.