A greener São Paulo
Students from the municipal schools of Itatiba: a partnership for which nature is thankful
The environmental recovery of a region comprising 17 cities in the state of São Paulo is the challenge undertook by Rota das Bandeiras Concessionaire, a company of the Odebrecht Organization responsible for five highways in the countryside of São Paulo. With an investment of approximately R$ 1.7 million, the planting and maintenance of 55 thousand seedlings have already been done, the equivalent to more than 80 species of native trees from the Atlantic Rainforest.
The work, which begun in 2011, does not end there. The goal for 2012 is that 78 thousand other seedlings be planted. After the new plantings, the total area to be recovered by the concessionaire will be of 79.8 hectares, 41% of which have already received a new flora and today bear small and big trees. Some of them are pretty familiar, such as jabuticaba trees, and guava trees.
Understanding the importance of this investment is simple once the area affected by vehicle circulation is comprehended. Rota das Bandeiras is responsible for five highways which sum up 297 km, among which is Dom Pedro I Corridor. All of them cut through large areas of environmental preservation in stretched that border the Atibaia and Atibainha rivers. Besides making it possible that the native flora develops in other places, the reforestation work crates solid partnerships with the community, which comprehends the importance of sustainable undertakings and carries on the ecological conscience where they live.
Adventure with boys and girls
All of this has been made possible thanks to the work of people such as Sandra Camargo, civil engineer specialized in environment and Manager of Environment of the concessionaire until January last year. In São Paulo, the Terms of Agreement of Environmental Recovery (TCRAs) require that, for each native tree affected by the construction work for the expansion of the highways of the grant, 25 native seedlings must be planted. Sandra, however, sought to go beyond that.
The first step of the engineer was to contact the City Hall of each city to decide with the public authorities which were the priorities in the environmental recovery. The concessionaire also sought the engagement of boys and girls in public municipal schools in the great adventure of recovering Permanent Preservation Areas, the so called APPs. They were invited to participate in the seedling planting at the riverbanks and springs, and at hillsides, rebuilding the riparian forests. “Whenever possible, children are involved”, explains Sandra. It is the case with two classes from Sebastião Camargo Pires Municipal School of Elementary Education, from Itatiba. The institution serves nearly 900 students.
Opposite movement
The schools’ vice-principal, Andréia Pereira Barbosa, who has 15 years of experience in public education, says she was surprised with the proposal from Clube de Campo de Itatiba, whose management proposed to the school a planting activity with the students using more than a thousand seedlings of different native species, all of them donated by Rota das Bandeiras. “We always seek partnerships in the city’s business community”, highlights Andréia. “But, in 2011, there was an opposite movement: this time, they looked for us to propose a project that is aligned with the school’s values”, she says.
According to the vice-principal, the involvement of the 60 children in last October– half from the morning classes, half from the afternoon classes– ended up reaching the parents, who, curious, went to the planting site to watch the activity. Many of them are housekeepers or small farmers from the rural area and didn’t want to miss the event, which counted with a lecture delivered by the concessionaire’s technicians on ecology, which ended with a snack for the children.
Preparation to receive the seedlings
But not only of planting occurs the rebuilding of the APPs areas. Sandra tells the work done by Rota das Bandeiras covers up to three years of constant care. “We previously fertilize the site and, after the planting, we do maintenance from three to three months”, she details. A second phase will also provide for the cleaning around the hole, as well the combat for ants. “We’re only done taking care of the seedling when the trees have reached, in average, 2.5 meters”, she explains.
In the already recovered area by Rota das Bandeiras, two places have caused a special impression on Sandra. “We have recovered the riverbanks of a tiny water stream in Atibaia which crossed a huge landfill in open sky. We have closed the site with a grid and planted the seedlings in all its extension. The area turned out to be beautiful, unrecognizable”, she says, proudly. She also mentions the work done in Serra D´Água Farm, in Campinas, where the planting grounds is, nowadays, used by the population for environmental studies.
After three years heading a team of another three professionals– an engineer, and two environmental technicians–, Sandra reveals another secret for the success of her work, which has come to an end less than a month ago: transparency in the relationship with the environmental agencies. “We sought to anticipate ourselves and call them at each step of the project, explaining all of the details. The secret is to dialogue”.
Overall, 79.8 hectares will be recovered in 17 cities in the state of São Paulo