The main objective of an environmental engineer who chooses to work on the recovery of deforested and polluted areas is to restore the environment to ideal conditions for the restructuring of life. In general, this area deals mainly with environments that have been severely affected and that, on their own, would not be able to regenerate.

A deforested or polluted area is also called a “degraded area”, that is, an area that, after some action, has little or no capacity to return to its original state. They are also areas with low quantity and quality of minerals in the soil, which prevents the existence of vegetation.

Therefore, the environmental engineer's role is to think of recovery techniques that work for different types of soil and in different regions.

To work in this area, he therefore needs to:

• Have extensive knowledge of biology;
• Conduct research and studies on floral remnants and environments to be reforested;
• Understand in depth the possible causes of degradation and how to avoid it;
• Be interested in issues such as plant species, vegetation, reforestation models, etc.