On November 29th, at Cabana Clube in Barcarena, starting at 9 a.m., the Hydro Sustainability Fund (Fundo de Sustentabilidade Hydro - FSH) will gather partners to showcase the results of projects implemented with its funding. Additionally, the meeting aims to promote interaction among project-executing partners, the HSF, and the IBS (Barcarena Sustainable Initiative), and collectively reflect on the results achieved during the year 2023. It will also gather information regarding the experience of project execution to support the enhancement of the results monitoring process.

Among the present partners will be members of local communities, the Barcarena City Hall, and executive members of Hydro. Throughout the day, various social projects developed in Barcarena that encouraged entrepreneurship in the region in diverse ways will be exhibited and discussed.

For Eduardo Figueiredo, executive director of the FSH, “this moment is crucial for our partners to get a closer look at the reality of the communities and how the support has changed the lives of many, contributing to the territorial development of these communities here in Barcarena. I always say it's an excellent learning opportunity.”

The event will feature panel exhibitions on projects supported by the FSH, including the 22 projects of Sustainable Connections, Tipitix, Amazonian Itineraries, Barcarena Style, Barcarena Sustainable Development Observatory, Barcarena Memories, and Everyone for Work.

One of the completed projects to be showcased is “Amazon Rainfall” from the Sustainable Connections Platform, which promoted alternative techniques for accessing clean water in riverside communities for a year, thus improving long-term quality of life by reducing diseases related to inadequate sanitation. It consisted of four stages: socio-environmental diagnosis of communities; laboratory analysis of the water used; environmental education and alternative techniques training for accessing clean water; and implementation of fixed rainwater collection structures. The project started in October 2022 and concluded its activities in September this year.

With community installations, 43 families benefited from the initiative, with 165 people served by four rainwater collection structures. According to Helenita Anjos, a health agent, the project came to help promote community health. 'We are learning to filter and clean rainwater, reducing diseases and gaining knowledge on how to improve the quality of our water,' she says.

Another project in its final phase highlighted the potential of the quilombola territory of the Gibirié de São Lourenço Community in Barcarena. Through income generation and environmental preservation, the community residents discovered a great opportunity in bees to combine two important aspects: a profitable business and sustainability. Thus, the Bees and Flowers Project was born, approved in the Sociobiodiversity axis of the Sustainable Connections Platform.

The project is part of the community's strategy to generate additional income and combat socio-environmental impacts in the region by strengthening the Gibiriés de São Lourenço Quilombola and Indigenous Community Association in the routine of beekeeping, production of propolis, fertilizer, and seedlings of fruit, medicinal, ornamental, and tree plants in a nursery.

The project has already trained residents in meliponiculture, which is the cultivation of stingless bees; produced over 700 kg of fertilizer, with a forecast to reach 1000 kg by the end of the year; produced over 600 seedlings of fruit, medicinal, ornamental, and tree plants, with the sale of these seedlings in the local market, and also the production of propolis. The association is responsible for managing and distributing the sales' profit.

About the Hydro Sustainability Fund

The Hydro Sustainability Fund (FSH), a non-profit organization, was established in 2019 with the joint commitment of the Hydro, Albras, and Alunorte companies, among other projects. Only in 2022, the fund invested BRL 5.5 million in projects and social actions.