|
Slash and Burn Agriculture in the last century has denuded the Paraibas do Sul River Basin and drastically reduced water flows. The Project aims to re-forest the Basin in order to Harvest Rainwater for the populations served by the River and get Environmental and Economic benefits from such reforestation.
In its pilot PSA program focusing on Water Resources (PSA-Hídrico), the Paraíba do Sul River Basin Integration Committee (CEIVAP) financed the execution of 08 (eight) PSA projects, restoring areas of native vegetation in strategic zones to increase water production in micro-watersheds of the Paraíba do Sul River basin, target of the projects. The Paraíba do Sul River basin is located in the southeastern region of Brazil, in the South Atlantic hydrographic region. It covers an area of approximately (62,074 kmē), about (0.7%) of the national territory, extending through the states of São Paulo (14,510 kmē), Rio de Janeiro (26,851 kmē), and Minas Gerais (20,713 kmē), encompassing 184 municipalities, the vast majority in the Geographical Region of Rotary International District 4571.
Main Objective: Considering the Marginal Protection Strips - FMP: 30 meters for all watercourses, 100 meters for reservoirs, and 50 meters for springs, it is noted that 51.33% (258,686ha) of the existing FMP areas in the Paraíba do Sul River basin are anthropized and present some degree of degradation. Environmental Degradation also generates Social Degradation, increasing the vulnerability of the communities living in the Paraíba do Sul River basin, especially when associated with extreme climatic events, such as low rainfall, as occurred in the summer of 2014-2015, configuring the scenario of "water crisis" that affected the southeastern region of Brazil, mainly the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The water crisis of 2014-2015 directly affected the water management of the Paraíba do Sul River basin, increasing the demand for raw water, which now supplies the transposition to the Cantareira system that supplies the metropolitan region of São Paulo with almost 22 million people (CEIVAP, 2023).
By implementing the Rotary Local Program: Planting Trees to Harvest Water in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin, following the CEIVAP's pilot PSA-Hídrico program "increase water supply" with forest restoration, benefiting the entire population of the more than 180 cities that are supplied by the waters of the Paraíba do Sul River. Total residents in the Paraíba do Sul River Basin, according to the 2022 Census: 12,077,945 residents, being: (1) male: 5,918,193 and (2) female: 6,159,752.
The goal for the next 03 (three) years is the total forest restoration of 100,000 mē, with the full development of native tree species from the Atlantic Forest planted, and the guarantee of a gradual increase in water production for the Paraíba do Sul River Basin.
PSA arrangements consist of contractual transactions, voluntarily agreed upon by the parties, whereby the program transfers financial resources to a rural landowner (PROVIDER) of environmental services as remuneration, under previously agreed conditions and in compliance with legal and regulatory provisions related to this transaction. Environmental services will be considered as individual or collective initiatives that can favor environmental recovery and ecological rehabilitation, improving ecosystem services, such as the post-implementation phase, where the maintenance stage of the areas occurs, considered of paramount importance, as it encompasses the necessary care with the planted seedlings. This stage consists of activities: (1) weed control, (2) firebreak cleaning, (3) pest (ants and others) and disease control, (4) topdressing and replacement (replanting) of failed beds.
|
