The DAEE completed in July the planting of 54 thousand tree seedlings of native species on the banks of the Paraitinga reservoir in Salesópolis. The reservoir is part of the Alto Tietê Producer System. The planting is part of the Nascentes Program, created by the State Department of Environment for the restoration of riparian forests in water courses and reservoirs.

In total, 66 hectares will be reforested along the reservoir, with the planting of 110 thousand seedlings of 80 species native to the Atlantic Forest. The work is being carried out by DAEE and CODASP (Agricultural Development Company of São Paulo) and represents an investment of R $ 3.1 million. Planting began in November 2015 and the expectation is to complete it in March 2017. The contract with CODASP also provides a maintenance service for 12 months.

Part of the seedlings is produced in the Tietê Ecological Park and by reeducers of the Regional Program for Planting Native Seedlings and Recovery of Springs from the Penitentiary Administration Secretariat. This program aims to promote the resocialization of sentenced people through the production of seedlings, planting and restoration of degraded areas, mainly in prisons. The rest of the seedlings are produced by dozens of small producers in various regions of the state.

NASCENTES PROGRAM

The Nascentes Program aims to restore around 20,000 hectares of riparian forests and protect 6,000 kilometers of water courses with public and private investments. The initiative involves local landowners, city hall, union, NGOs, state secretariats, associations and cooperatives in order to combine conservation of biodiversity with water quality. Initially, the actions cover the catchment areas of Alto Tietê, Paraíba do Sul and Piracicaba / Capivari / Jundiaí, regions that concentrate more than 30 million inhabitants. In this stage, the goal is to recover 4,464 hectares of riparian forests, an area equivalent to 5,400 soccer fields, using 6.3 million native species seedlings.

Ricardo Borsari, Superintendent of the DAEE, points out that “the riparian forests, arranged along the banks of water courses and reservoirs, are important because they form a dynamic interface between the aquatic and terrestrial systems, bringing several benefits. Among them, the reduction of surface runoff from rainwater, which ends up minimizing erosion processes and favoring the conservation of water resources. “