The Forestry Institute (IF) is a pioneering entity in nature conservation actions, holding, through its work philosophy, a notable position in the forestry reality of São Paulo and Brazil, both as a generator of sustainable and economic activity and by protecting significant areas that shelter primitive ecosystems.

Linked to the Environment Secretariat since 1986, the IF created and managed a large part of the protected areas in the state of São Paulo, a task that it began sharing with the Forestry Foundation in 2007. Today it manages 10 Ecological Stations, 1 State Park, 18 Experimental Stations, 2 Forest Nurseries, 2 Forest Gardens and 14 State Forests (more than 53 thousand ha), in addition to supporting the management of the São Paulo City Green Belt Biosphere Reserve (MaB-UNESCO Program).

In 2019, Decree No. 64,059 merged the former secretariats of Environment, Sanitation and Water Resources and Energy and Mining into the new department – Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment.

The Forestry Institute is the guardian of the biodiversity of the State of São Paulo and its obligation is to guarantee this heritage to future generations.