FUNBOAS

The FUND priority area is upstream of Juturnaíba Reservoir that is responsible for the 75% water supply to the resident population, especially to the coastal-zone municipalities.and has approximately 800 km², and concentrates about 200 (two hundred) of familiar farmers. This priority area is formed by the municipalities of Silva Jardim and Rio Bonito and still has remnants of Atlantic forest important to the quality and quantity of water. The human development index of this area is showing low social indicators that demonstrate the need for effective action to promote the welfare of communities and improve access to a better standard of environmental sanitation.

Goals overview

I. Foment the landscape management through the productive processes technologically less degrading and or polluting;
II. Act on the socioenvironmental reality in watersheds aiming to improve the community well being;
IV. Raise the commitment of the farmers, managers and other social actors with the sustainability and conservation politics;
V. Implement the participative and integrated planning and management of the natural resources in micro basins;

The rural sanitation project included the installation of septic biodigester and grease traps, and fitness of water capitation system in 24 (twenty four) farms. The chosen model was the proposal by EMBRAPA (Brazilian Research Enterprise) that allows the final effluent use as a fertilizer of crops (less annual crops). This project contributes to decontamination of groundwater and Cambucaes River (and therefore São João River), healthier ambient to families, increase in crop productivity (using the effluent of process), and water consumption with satisfactory indices of quality.

Current status

The first selected micro basin by the Participative Environmental Program was the Cambucaes River, in Silva Jardim city – Rio de Janeiro, localized upstream of Juturnaíba Reservoir, the largest fountainhead of basin water supply and whose community already have a important potential of collective spirit and little water resources conservation practices. In this micro basin, in 1997 about 106 families were settled in an Agrarian Reform Settlement. Their properties are about 5 ha in media; the families have about 4 persons and the average rent US$ 265/month.This initial experience served to application and improvement of methodological instruments proposed. With FUND resources was supported collective project and Individual Plan of Farm Development. The collective project chooses was rural sanitation that was a raised problem by community. The FUND intent, in the next 10 years, finance Socioenvironmental Good Practices projects in about 205 (two hundred and five) small and medium farms.

Project plan

The FUND priority area is upstream of Juturnaíba Reservoir and has approximately 800 km², and concentrates about 200 (two hundred) of familiar farmers. Because of the great number of families and the small amount of resources, the Micro basin Technical Chamber has to choose strategic areas for conservation to act. To define the priority micro basin in each Basin, the following criteria are used: biodiversity, water supply for human consumption, community organization, familiar farmer’s concentration and actual level of involved institutions in integrated action with resident population. To order the beneficiaries attendance in micro basin is utilized the Micro basin Executive Plan, that define the priority areas of intervention lining up the socio and environmental information. This instrument also points the collective projects necessary to micro basin and or the resident community. The FUND also finance familiar farmers individual “dreams” of sustainable rural development. To define the individual access form and the resources application in farms was developed the Socio-environmental Good Practice’s Level Evaluation Instrument. The small farmers that candidates are evaluated, and when reach 50% of socioenvironmental good practices could have access and dispose of the resources to improve the landscape management. The classified above 70%can use part of the resources to acquire capital goods that contribute to improve income generation and life quality. For individual access FUND uses another instrument called Individual Plan of Farm Development that makes the socio-economical and environmental characterize, describing all activities and developed production system, soil and water management, rural sanitation and other. In the end the Individual Plan characterize and prioritize the principal problems found, orientating the adoption of better practices and providing information for integrated planning of farm in the long-term. The adopted practices in farms are accompanied by the “environmental extensionist” technical that assist in Individual Plan implantation and activities accompaniment. The farmers can access the FUND each two years, since they improve their socio-environmental good practices level.

Target Benchmarks

The rural sanitation project included the installation of septic biodigester and grease traps, and fitness of water capitation system in 24 (twenty four) farms. The chosen model was the proposal by EMBRAPA (Brazilian Research Enterprise) that allows the final effluent use as a fertilizer of crops (less annual crops). This project contributes to decontamination of groundwater and Cambucaes River (and therefore São João River), healthier ambient to families, increase in crop productivity (using the effluent of process), and water consumption with satisfactory indices of quality.

Categories

Water:
The FUND is a tool that helps in the water management process, presenting as a concrete and viable alternative that search commitment and approximation of territories occupants with the policies of natural resources conservation. It also recuperate and preserve the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and its biodiversity conservation; Promoting prevention and defense against critical hydrologic events, from natural origin or inappropriate use of the natural resources.

Sanitation/Product development:
Rural sanitation is a problem raised by many communities. In many cases, the effluent causes water contamination and mainly was detected by analyses in many farms water for human consumption high levels of contamination. The rural sanitation project supported by FUND included the installation of septic biodigester and grease traps, and fitness of water capitation system in farms. The chosen model was the proposal by EMBRAPA (Brazilian Research Enterprise) that allows the final effluent use as a fertilizer of crops (less annual crops). This project contributes to decontamination of groundwater and the rivers (and therefore São João River), healthier ambient to families, increase in crop productivity (using the effluent of process), and water consumption with satisfactory indices of quality.

Education/Tranning:
The Environmental Education Program “Communities in Action in Micro basins”, is part of Participative Environmental Management in Micro basins Program, that produced a participative environmental diagnosis and plans of environmental action built collectively, whose propositions pointed the recognition of the environmental conservation and recuperation necessity by community, but letting clear that this actions and measures should be elapsed from shared compromises in facing the identified challenges. This project involves the rural communities and also the schools of the watersheds, and is essential for the beginning of FUND activities. It is also observed greater community involvement, with more participation of school, other neighborhoods in the action to improve the micro basin’s environment. The FUND also helped rescue the involvement of farmers with agriculture and started an important process in these communities of sustainable rural development, with more political empowerment of individuals to effective management of their territories. During the activities of the fund, farmers are able to manage their properties, and conducting field days with the participation of technical.

Maintenance:
The FUND resources are used for increase income generation and the quality of life level (implantation of rural and ecological tourism projects, incentive to familiar agroindustry, and installations construction and improvement – greenhouses, shadow garden, cattle shed, pigpen, chicken, and others improvements), including through the investment in capital goods
Besides the direct benefits, the continuity of FUND actions will provide environmental benefits in special to natural resources conservation, with soils quality improvements, rainwater infiltration capacity increase, fountain protection, improve the water quality and quantity, biodiversity corridors creation, increase in the sanitation coverage (including the right destiny of domestic sewage and potable water for human consumption) and etc.

Expected outcomes

• Enrichment of 60.000 m² (6 ha) of agro forestry systems
• Implantation of 20.000 m² (2 ha) of agro forestry systems
• Acquisition of equipments to agricultural products processin
• Installation of 24 septic biodigester systems
• Planting of Green fertilization species

Brazil’s Federal Law 9433 of 8 January 1997 (attached) establishes the National Policy of Water Resources and creates the National System Water Resources Management, which constituted a novel effort to structure a decentralized water management system across the country. The implementation of this decentralized and participative model requires a close collaboration and negotiation among the different government levels – federal, state and municipal, as well as between these and water users and civil society organizations. This collaboration and negotiation is to be developed within River Basin Committees, where representatives from all the above mentioned segments are to participate.
In 2005, is created Araruama and Saquarema Lagoon and São João, Una e Ostras Rivers Basin Committee – The Lagos São João Basin Committee. The Committee creates Technical Chambers to discuss specific subjects, like micro basin management, water resources, sanitation, environmental education, etc. Each Basin Committee must have a Basin Agency or an Executive Clerkship that should perform all the executive work related to elaboration and accompaniment of projects, technical staff hiring and payment, and administration e application of financial resources (fees for water use, and others). In our case, Lagos São João Basin Committee has an Executive Clerkship that is performed by the NGO Consortium Intermunicipal for Environmental Management of Lake Region, São João River and Coastal Zone – CILSJ which is the legal entity.Water resources plans are developed to guide future decisions and are to be developed for each river basin, and must be approved by the corresponding river basin committee. The Participative Environmental Management in Micro basins Program (foreseen in the Basin Plan) began to be implanted on São João River Sub-basin and the FUND creation proposal was elapsed from diagnoses, analysis and discussion that occurred and occur in São João River Sub-committee meetings and in Lagos São João Basin Committee. In September 2007, the SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL GOOD PRACTICES IN MICROBASIN FUND was created.The FUND is an instrument of Participative Environmental Management in Micro basins Program that is contained in Lagos São João Committee Basin Plan and was created and regulated by the Resolutions N° 13/2007 and N°23/2009. The fees for water use, instituted by Federal Law N° 9.433, are being held and guarantee in long-term a regular contribution of a small amount resources to improve Lagos São Joao Basin Plan. The FUND is feed annually with part of this resources, and eventually by other sources, and this resources are compulsory used to improve landscape management and life quality of whom lives in strategic areas for water conservation. The FUND is a work methodology that could be used in others areas and regions, being of easy application and understanding by the performers and for all community. The FUND also helped rescue the involvement of farmers with agriculture and started an important process in these communities of sustainable rural development, with more political empowerment of individuals to effective management of their territories.