At 42, Gisele Bündchen’s career continues to be on an upswing. Sure, she hasn’t taken to the runway in over a decade. But since then, Bündchen has successfully transitioned from a model to a businesswoman, launching a skincare line and lingerie brand that has earned her quite a fortune. More impressively, she did it all while remaining a devoted mom to her children with husband Tom Brady.Meanwhile, following Brady’s surprising decision to return to the NFL (which supposedly led to some issues between the couple), Bündchen has also revealed what’s next for her. In honor of her 42nd birthday, the former model is working to restore biomes in her home country of Brazil.

Gisele Bündchen Has Long Been A Staunch Environmentalist

If there is one issue that Bündchen takes to heart, it would have to be the environment (a passion she shares with ex-boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio). She also grew up surrounded by nature, which she very much appreciated.

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“I was born feeling deeply connected to nature—it's the place I go to recharge. I come from a small village in the south of Brazil,” Bündchen said.

“During school breaks, my mother used to drop me and my sisters off at my grandmother's house. I loved visiting her because we would milk the cows in the morning, collect eggs from the chickens, and help her tend to the garden…”

As she got older though, Bündchen also realized that the world was facing some serious environmental problems.

“Even though I've had this love for nature my entire life, it wasn't until I visited the Amazon rainforest for the first time in 2004 that I realized that, although vast, it's so much more fragile than I thought,” she explained.

That’s when she felt the need to do something about it and possibly use her celebrity status to become a force for good. And in 2009, Bündchen was named the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environmental Program.

“I have been working on environmental issues for a long time and agreed to become a Goodwill Ambassador to be part of a global and far-reaching organization,” the model said in a statement. “Now it's about action on a global scale to secure a healthy future for the next generation, wherever they live in the world.”

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Immediately, Bündchen went to work on replanting deforested areas in the Amazon and a “clean water” project for families.

More recently, in 2021, she also announced a partnership with Brazilian environmental services firm Ambipar where she will serve as their brand ambassador and join its sustainability committee.

“For years I‘ve been looking for projects that can help take care of our planet,” Bündchen said in an Instagram post. “When I learned about Ambipar and the work they are doing, I was very happy because I realized that they also have this mission.”

At 42, Restoring Brazil’s Biomes Is On Gisele Bündchen’s ‘Huge List Of Things To Do’

Even after all the environmental campaign initiatives that she’s done, Bündchen is far from done. “I have a huge list of things that I have to do, that I want to do,” she remarked. “At 42, I feel more connected with my purpose.”

That purpose is, of course, the environment. And this time around, Bündchen is focused on Brazil’s biomes. In honor of her birthday last July, she launched an initiative, which hopes to fund the restoration of seven of these biomes.

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Bündchen intends to get this done with her Luz Alliance Fund, a private foundation that she created back in 2007 to support various causes, including the environment.

And in partnership with BrazilFoundation, the plan is to rehabilitate Brazil’s ecosystems and preserve them for future generations.

“Brazil is the most biodiverse place on the planet, with each of its biomes hosting a variety of vegetation and fauna,” BrazilFoundation further explained on its website.

There Is A Specific Goal For Each Brazil Biome

The initiatives vary in focus, depending on the biome concerned. For instance, in the Amazon biome, the goal is to “implement two agroforest hectares on the Uru-eu-wau-wau indigenous lands.” This will ensure food security for 30 indigenous families.

Over at the Pampa biome, they are looking at reducing biodiversity loss by promoting sustainable farming practices. Meanwhile, over at the Costeiro-Marinho biome, the goal is to promote sea turtle conservation, which involves creating an app that can help monitor and protect their nesting areas.

On the other hand, in the Atlantic Forest biome, they hope to “foster healthy and balanced water systems in the Muriaé River Basin.” This can be done by giving water recharge areas increased forest coverage.

To be clear, this isn’t the first time that Bündchen has marked a birthday with an environmental campaign. For her 40th birthday, she donated 40,000 new trees to the Amazon. By the end of that birthday campaign, Bündchen had provided funding for over 250,000 trees.