Ravaged by farming and logging, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest stands at only 25 percent of its original extent — once a quarter of the size of the Amazon . Over the past two decades, however, the forest has slowly started to return — with nearly 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) of its area restored . How did Brazil accomplish this — and how could other countries follow suit? The answer may surprise you, explained Conservation International restoration expert Nikola Alexandre in a recent article for news outlet Al Jazeera : Brazil didn’t spend billions to plant trees or employ cutting-edge technologies. Instead, they left the forest alone.…