How Rio's favela residents are 'greening' their homes – in pictures

Brazilians are working to transform the city's concrete urban jungle

In this Jan.10, 2020 photo, Luis Cassiano shows his green roof at his home in Arara Park favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "I think people will, one day, really wind up joining. We'll need it. Just look at the heat of all those roofs together!" (AP Photo/Renato Spyrro)

In this Jan. 6, 2020 photo, a sign that reads "You take part of nature" at an area where Ale Roque plants different kinds of trees in Rio's first favela Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Living in Morro da Providencia, Roque is working to restore some greenery to the urban scene. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

This Jan.6, 2020 photo, shows an area where trees and plants were gardened by Ale Roque in Rio's first favela Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Living in Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro's first favela, Roque is working to restore some greenery to the urban scene. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

In this Jan. 6, 2020 photo, a young woman smells a plant during a gardening class at Rio's first favela, Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rio's dense neighborhoods have among the least vegetation in Brazil; 80 of them have less than 1% tree cover, most in the industrial North Zone. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

In this Jan.6, 2020 photo, Ale Roque, left, teaches a boy to garden in Rio's first favela Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Living in Morro da Providencia, Roque is working to restore some greenery to the urban scene. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

In this Jan. 6, 2020 photo, activist Ale Roque smiles as she sees a tree bearing fruit at her home in Rio's first favela, Morro da Providencia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Roque's project forms part of a recent wave of green projects in Rio, a city known for its jungle, but much of which is actually large expanses of concrete and brick with ever-hotter temperatures during the summer months. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Tijuca Rainforest — one of the world's largest urban rainforests — sprawls across 32,000 kilometres in Rio de Janeiro and is one of the city's most-visited attractions.

But away from the national park, many of the city's residents live in concrete-filled communities where ever-hotter summer temperatures and a lack of vegetation makes for uncomfortable living.

Several neighbourhoods in Rio have less than one per cent tree cover. Despite this, the city's public policy for green spaces lags behind most major cities. This has forced locals to take the matter of greening Rio into their own hands.

Rio's favelas — working-class urban areas that emerged as squatter settlements —  have some of the least vegetation in the country. In the majority of these estimated 1,000 neighbourhoods, people live so closely together that green spaces are almost always an afterthought.

Residents are working to change that. From planting trees and shrubs to transforming rooftops into makeshift gardens, people living in the favelas are increasingly prioritising the need for nature.

Brazilian advocacy NGO Catalytic Communities has spearheaded a grassroots sustainable movement that aims to create a sustainable future for these urban spaces.

In Morro da Providencia, the city's first favela, trees planted as part of this sustainable drive have now started producing fruit.

Purpose-sown green spaces are being used to educate young children about plants and nature. Several favela owners are working to turn tiny rooftops into elevated gardens.

This favela is just one of dozens of places under the shadow of Tijuca Rainforest where "moradores da favelas" (inhabitants of favelas) are leading the charge to create greener alternatives to their tree-starved urban landscapes.