By financing proposals focused on entrepreneurship and sustainable development in Barcarena, Pará, the Fundo de Sustentabilidade Hydro (Hydro Sustainability Fund) and the Iniciativa Barcarena Sustentável (Sustainable Barcarena Initiative) are supporting 15 projects selected for the Calls for Community Base I and Platform Structuring Base Sustainable Connections. The selected projects were presented at a meeting of partners, starting the journey with dialogues and connections.

Among the projects is Chuvas da Amazônia – Estação Vida, managed by environmental engineer Thuany Cristina da Silva Batista, which intends to implement and teach alternative techniques for access to drinking water in riverside communities. The objective is to improve the quality of life with the long-term reduction of diseases related to the lack of adequate basic sanitation. The project will last eight months to be implemented and will benefit residents of the islands in the municipality of Barcarena, in the communities of Urucuriteua, Anauerá and São João on the Trambioca and Onças Islands. “We also want to make communities aware of environmental education practices. We are going to reach around 150 people from these communities”, explains Thuany.

The project is divided into six phases: technical visit and collection of water consumed on a daily basis; workshop on the importance of drinking water and practice with techniques for accessing drinking water through homemade filters; installation of ecological toilets and composting; implementation of the rainwater harvesting system; inspection, collection of water after system implementation and laboratory analysis; and the work to raise awareness and preserve the riparian forest and the planting of native seedlings.

For the executive director of the Fundo de Sustentabilidade Hydro, Eduardo Figueiredo, “the selected projects came from a collective construction, detecting the problems and solutions for Barcarena. I can see the evolution of the work and the confidence that we have 15 projects that we believe will make a difference, because they have quality. Conexões Sustentáveis reaffirms the Fund's commitment to strengthening the communities in the municipality”.

The Conexões Sustentáveis Platform seeks to finance socio-environmental projects to promote positive transformations in favor of the development of Barcarena, primarily benefiting local community organizations that have difficulties in accessing credit. It is carried out by the Fundo de Sustentabilidade Hydro in a strategic partnership with the Parceiros pela Amazônia Platform (PPA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID/Brazil) and the Bioversity Alliance/CIAT, through the execution of the Secretaria Executiva da Iniciativa Barcarena Sustentável. In total, BRL 2,950,000 will be invested.

Quilombola women in action

Another selected project is “Mulheres Quilombolas em Ação – União que Capacita” (Quilombola Women in Action – Union that Empowers). Developed by the Associação da Comunidade Quilombola Sítio Cupuaçu/Boa Vista, it defends the right to the territory occupied by the quilombolas; protects the environment; promotes the sustainable economic, social and cultural development of the community; it preserves the religious and cultural manifestations and the autonomy and self-determination of the quilombo and promotes the quality of life.

The project plans to train, on average, 60 women from different age groups in the community, so that through professionalization they can generate their own income, inspired by respect for the culture of traditional quilombola values. “We want to strengthen female empowerment and that of the traditional community based on initiatives for productive inclusion, through the technical qualification of professionals in the area of Afro beauty, targeting the formal job market and encouraging entrepreneurship”, evaluates Maria Luciene Pinheiro, member of the Association. The project should last about 12 months, with an investment of around BRL 87,500 and work in the Quilombola community center Sítio Cupuaçu/Boa vista, in Barcarena.

Sustainable circular economy

Among the selected projects is also one of Maria Cordeiro Queiroz, who had already participated in another Fund project, Tipitix, focused on the commercialization of cassava flour Mandioquieiras. Now, it has been selected with the Solid Residue Sustainable Circular Economy project, developed by the Associação dos Moradores Igarapé Cupuaçu (AMIC). “Through innovative solutions, we found a way to manage organic residue treatments. The biodigester is a social technology that enables the decomposition of organic matter producing high quality biogas and biofertilizer. We are going to work in the homes of families in the Cupuaçu community,” says Maria.

The initiative is expected to last for two years and aims to produce 6.5 liters of biofertilizers through the processing of organic waste; provide training for residents in environmental management; encourage the reduction of expenses with gas purchases and generate an increase in CO2 sequestration, with a target of 20 tons of CO2 per year. “We want to show Barcarena that we have an innovative project that will benefit 17 families directly and more than 150 indirectly. And, without the partnership of the Hydro Sustainability Fund, none of this would be possible, we would not be able to bring these communities the development they need”, concludes Maria Cordeiro.

Accidents prevention

The mini-transponder project, on the other hand, aims to prevent waterway accidents in riverside communities, very common among vessels such as rabetas, rabudos and others that do not have navigation signaling equipment. The mini-transponder is a radio communication device that intelligently signals the approach between vessels, preventing collisions between them and making navigation safer. Developed by the Instituto Açaí – Ciência e Cidadania na Amazônia (IACCA), the Amazonian mini-transponder will be aimed at assisting the riverside families of Barcarena (communities neighboring the island of Trambioca, Ilha Arapiranga and in the town of Furo do Arrozal), being one of the main safety and accident prevention items on small vessels. There will be 178 riverside families linked to the project for 19 months.

“We want to reduce the occurrence of accidents among small boats by around 60%, after installing the mini-transponder, and train beneficiaries so that they can use this technology in the best way”, emphasizes Gilberto Silva, from IACCA.