In the shadow of Patagonia’s wild ridgelines, a quiet kind of work is taking place. It doesn’t begin with blueprints or strategies. It begins with listening — to the crackle of burned earth, to the voices of those who never left, to the inner call that says: this isn’t how it has to be.

This is how ReforestArg was born. Not as an organization, but as a reaction — a human one. After quitting his job, Tobias set out on a meandering trip across southern Argentina. It wasn’t meant to become a mission. But as he wandered through scorched landscapes around Río Pico, where fire had left silence in its wake, something shifted. The land had spoken. And he couldn’t un-hear it.

“The connection didn’t come from a book or a class,” he told us. “It came from being there. From listening to people who live in the forest — and watch it burn.”

What started with a singular impulse — to replant what was lost — soon became something else entirely. Today, ReforestArg is so much more than environmental campaigns. It’s a space where people offer their time and energy to restore forests — and in the process, they experience profound personal transformation.

“At first, my goal was just to plant trees. But I was in this crazy race against deforestation. Imagine racing against Usain Bolt — the frustration you’d feel is overwhelming. Now we know the goal isn’t to win that race. It’s to transform people as they plant trees.”


ReforestArg isn’t just about trees anymore. It’s about the people who plant them. Volunteers come for the forests — and leave with something altered inside. It’s this internal rewiring, Tobias believes, that creates lasting environmental change.

We think this perspective completely changes how we see environmental activism. Tobias made it clear from the start: planting trees is vital, but the real change happens inside the people doing it. Each volunteer goes home not just with the memory of planting a tree, but with a new way of seeing the planet.

“If the person planting a tree manages to connect with the earth, we’ve already won. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 trees, 200,000, or a million. Because that person will return to their life, work, and family with a different mindset. The key is changing the mindset of the planet’s caretaker — which is us.”

This idea really stuck with us, because it’s about something way deeper and more lasting than just fixing up a piece of land. It’s about changing how we think and act as a society.

And for ReforestArg, that shift didn’t happen overnight. It was a process.What started as one person’s fire to take action grew into a collective practice grounded in calm, care, and reflection.

Tobias puts it simply: “ReforestArg was born with fire, with anger, with this need to do something right now. But fire, sooner or later, has to be put out. Today we work with water: with love, with slow processes, with consciousness.”

That internal shift — from urgency to patience — has become the core of what they do. It was shaped by a growing team of volunteers who brought their ideas and efforts to the table, reshaping how the organization saw itself. Because before planting out there, ReforestArg had to change how it saw itself. And over time, the forest stopped being just the goal. It became the backdrop. The real magic happens in the people who go, plant, listen to those who live there, and come back changed. Forest restoration, in the end, is also about restoring how we relate to each other.

Today, ReforestArg wants to keep growing — but not at any cost. The dream of planting millions of trees every year comes with a realistic, honest approach. To make it happen, they need to boost their capacity to grow native trees — which means investing in nurseries, infrastructure, and above all, people.It’s not something just anyone can do. It takes skilled people, local knowledge, and the commitment to stick with it for the long haul. That’s why one of their boldest steps is creating a new profession: the forest restorer.

“We’re creating something that’s never existed before,” Tobias told us. “Being a forest restorer has to be a real option for anyone who wants to do it. There have to be salaries, training, tools — everything so someone can proudly say: ‘I’m a forest restorer.’”
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Another huge challenge they face is about time. In a world that wants everything now, talking about processes that take years isn’t easy — even with people who want to help. From the organization’s perspective, there’s a simple but powerful idea: just like we pay taxes for public services, we should think about a “land tax.” Not as a punishment, but as a way to give back to the places we enjoy — and to respect the time these processes take.“Today, the limit isn’t how many people or companies want to help. It’s about getting them to understand that creating a forest takes time. Sometimes donors want instant results, but restoring a forest is a slow process that takes years.”

We closed our conversation by asking Tobias directly: What final message would you like to share with readers?

‍“You don’t have to do everything. Just doing your part already means a lot. If each of us put even 1% of what we earn into restoring the planet, it would be enough. It’s not about doing everything — it’s about doing something. If you love living on a healthy planet, commit to it like you commit to your city. You pay taxes for clean streets and public hospitals. So contribute something to take care of the planet, too. It’s not charity — it’s responsibility. It’s how we give back to the Earth that gives us so much every day.”

Talking with ReforestArg left us with one clear takeaway: planting trees isn’t just an environmental act. It’s an act that can change how we connect with the planet and with each other. It’s a powerful excuse to pause, show up, and rediscover something essential — the ability to care together for what also cares for us.

What stayed with us long after the interview was the clarity of that truth: planting trees can be a tool for collective renewal. Not just for forests, but for the very relationships that sustain us — with land, with labor, and with one another. Because in the end, the most fertile ground may be the one within us.