| This program was initiated in 1997,
with the elaboration of the Socio-Environmental Diagnostic
Study of the Watershed Basin of the Rio Ribeira de Iguape.
It was incorporated into the structure of the Atlantic
Forest Program in 1999, and then transformed into a
Regional Program in 2002. Its objective is to assist
in the creation of public policies that deal with water
resources, natural resources, and traditional communities,
through an array of activities: promoting participatory
and interactive modes of socio-environmental monitoring;
gathering, updating, and making available information
produced through such modes; building the capacity of
local actors; formulating actions and implement projects
aimed at creating a positive agenda for the sustainable
development in the Ribeira Valley region.
The program works in the Watershed Basin of the Rio
Ribeira de Iguape and the Estuary Lake Complex of Iguape-Cananéia-Paranaguá,
which encompasses 2,830,666 hectares (or 28,306 square
kilometers) in the southeastern part of São Paulo state
and the eastern part of Paraná state, two of the most
developed states in Brazil. Although the basin is located
between two dynamic metropolitan regions (São Paulo,
to the north, and Curitiba, to the south) and was one
of the first and most intensely exploited regions in
Brazil during the colonial and imperial eras, the Ribeira
Valley still maintains to this day a significant environmental
heritage. The region shelters one of the most important
speleological sites in the country, as well as more
than 2,100,000 hectares of forests, 150,000 hectares
of salt marshes, and 17,000 hectares of mangrove swamps,
all extremely well conserved.
In 1999, the Southeastern Atlantic Forest Reserve,
comprising 17 municipal districts in the Ribeira de
Iguape River Valley, became one of the six areas in
Brazil to be recognized
by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) as Natural Heritage Sites of Humanity.
There are 24 conservation units that are entirely or
partially located in the Ribeira Valley. However, only
51% of its total area is legally protected. Ever since
1992, the public has been waiting for the Federal Congress
to pass a bill defining the geographic boundaries of
the Atlantic Forest Domain and creating regulations
for the economic exploitation of this biome.
Along with these important natural resources, the region
is notable for its cultural aspects. In the Ribeira
Valley, there are indigenous communities, traditional
fishing communities, communities of quilombolas
(descendants of refugee slaves), and small-scale family
farms, constituting a cultural diversity rarely encountered
in locales so close to industrialized regions. In historic
terms, the region contains the highest number of environmental
heritage sites in the state of São Paulo, plus innumerable
archaeological sites, still barely studied.
In sharp contrast to the rich environmental and cultural
sites, the Ribeira Valley displays the lowest social
indicators in the states of São Paulo and Paraná, including
the highest rates of infant mortality and illiteracy.
The population of the Valley does not currently have
adequate economic alternatives for sustainable development
in the region. Aggravating this picture is the proximity
of two major urban and industrial centers, and the recent
investments in infrastructure projects (such as the
enlargement of the BR-116 Regis Bittencourt Highway,
proposals for the construction of hydroelectric dams
on the Ribeira de Iguape river, and proposals to alter
the water basins in order to redirect water from the
region toward São Paulo and Curitiba). These projects
threaten to transform the Ribeira Valley into a region
that supplies low-cost natural resources, exploited
for the benefit of outsiders without any regard for
the region’s environmental and cultural heritage and
without generating benefits for the resident population.
Quilombo Communities Project
In partnership with local associations, this project
seeks to assist actions and initiatives directed toward
economic development, environmental conservation, and
improvement in the quality of life of the quilombo
communities of the Ribeira Valley. This region contains
the greatest number of surviving quilombos in
the state of São Paulo, since many of the slaves who
had been put to work in the mines during the eighteenth
century remained in the region after the abolition of
slavery, settling the area and supporting themselves
as subsistence farmers.
Ivaporunduva is considered the oldest quilombo
community in the region. It is located in the Eldorado
municipal district in São Paulo state, and covers an
area of 3,158 hectares. Recently, the community became
the first quilombo in the state to obtain definitive
title to its territory, following a twelve-year struggle
that began when the new Federal Constitution of 1988
was issued.
In 2000, the Socio-Environmental Institute and the Ivaporunduva
Quilombo Association formed a partnership with the aim
of promoting research and jointly developing alternative
means for the management and sustainable use of the
community’s natural resources. Together, they are developing
modes of generating income that are compatible with
the local social, economic, and environmental conditions,
thus guaranteeing the protection and conservation of
the environment of the quilombo territory.
The partnership is studying and developing activities
that can generate income by raising the quality and
adding value to banana crops, the main economic activity
of the community, through measures such as improving
production practices, obtaining organic certification,
processing the crops, raising the standards of banana
straw artisanry, and commercializing the products of
the project. Through working in conjunction, the partnership
seeks to eliminate exploitative middlemen, giving greater
independence to the farmers and enabling them to keep
a greater portion of profits. In May, 2003, the first
phase of the program was completed when a group of 27
local producers obtained organic certification of their
bananas from the Biodynamic Institute of Botucatu.
The project is also developing actions directed toward
environmental conservation, such as replanting juçara
palms in areas altered in the quilombo territory,
promoting the recuperation and sustainable management
of the species in the near and long-term future. Other
actions include programs for collecting recyclable trash,
environmental education, and agro-ecological zoning
that will assist the sustainable use of local natural
resources.
Socio-Environmental Diagnostic Project
The aim of this project is to gather available information on the region, research
new sources of data, and promote the elaboration of
analyses that make it possible to visualize problems
and potentials, evaluate current public policies on
development and preservation, and discuss alternatives
that take into account local complexities. The project
also conducts monitoring activities, accompanies the
elaboration and implementation of particular legislation,
and disseminates information to social organizations,
municipal offices, and public schools.
The data obtained and produced by the diagnostic study
are organized into a geographic information system (GIS)
that enables the data to be cross-tabulated according
to topics. This capacity generating knowledge about
questions such as the evolution of soil uses or the
identification of critical areas, thereby assisting
participatory processes that engage different social
actors to devise measures to improve the socio-environmental
quality of life. The diagnostic data are used by governmental
and nongovernmental organizations, local communities,
and members of the general public interested in contributing
toward the sustainable development of the region.
Team
Coordinator: Nilto Ignácio Tatto (business administrator)
Advisor: Fábio Graf Pedroso (agronomy engineer)
Advisor: Fábio Zanirato, (forestry engineer)
Partnerships and funding sources
Ivaporunduva Quilombo Association
Coordinating Council on Teaching and Pedagogical Standards
(CENP), São Paulo Bureau of Education
Miracatu Regional Board of Education
Registro Regional Board of Education
Apiaí Regional Board of Education
Environmental Law Institute (United States)
State Fund for Water Resources (FEHIDRO)
Ford Foundation
International Institution for Education in Brazil (IIEB)
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