Guarujá, Brazil: Greener City

Benefits of Urban Greening

Harnessing the Power of Plants

The initiative considers the potential of afforestation and protection of municipal areas of municipal Atlantic forest remnants called conservation units for the development of a more sustainable city. It is known that the preservation and expansion of green areas in urban areas have a wide range of benefits, including, for example, improving air quality, reducing urban temperatures, maintaining soil and carbon sequestration. Guarujá is a rapidly developing city. Cities are heterogeneous landscapes made up of socio-ecological systems in which the distribution of ecosystem services occurs at different scales. Historically, man-nature interaction is given through a relationship of domination, that is, the Cartesian paradigm. As a result of urbanisation and industrialisation processes and, consequently, the resulting environmental impacts, there is a need to integrate these different spheres – social, environmental and governance – with a view to protecting and maintaining ecosystems. Therefore, the Greener City Programme encompasses the capacity for ecological resilience based on actions that promote sustainable development and the existence of a greener city.

Delivering Multiple Benefits

It is essential to explore the potential of plants through an afforestation plan to improve the quality of life in cities. By identifying and protecting sensitive areas, such as forests, rivers and mangrove areas, we can guarantee the survival of threatened species, maintain ecosystem balance and provide opportunities for environmental education and research. Furthermore, it contributes to the mitigation of climate change, since environmental protection areas act as carbon sinks. Donating seedlings to the community is a practical approach for including citizens in promoting urban vegetation and environmental conservation. By distributing seedlings of species suited to the local climate, it is possible to promote environmental education and raise awareness among the population. There are environmental protection areas – APA Serra de Guararu (Municipal Decree No. 9,948/2012) and Serra de Santo Amaro (Municipal Decree No. 14,365/2021) -, riverside communities, urban ecosystems and mangrove ecosystems. In view of this, the public policies developed are inserted within a socio-environmental context, so that there is integration of different social actors. The data collected through the actions promoted by the programme are the basis for reviewing legislation, preparing plans and developing other initiatives.

The City’s Bold and Innovative Vision

The initiative encompasses different actions aimed at afforestation that present several benefits for urban centres. In addition to the benefits, the inclusion of different existing communities – riverside communities, outskirts and urbanised areas – is fundamental for promoting environmental education, awareness and active participation of citizens. Each community faces unique barriers – socioeconomic inequality and lack of access to public services – and divergence of political interests. Therefore, the programme adapts to these diverse demands through the Management Councils of environmental protection areas. Both councils are of a parity nature and are attended by members of the public administration, riverside communities (Perequê and Prainha Branca), adjacent communities in the port area (Vicente de Carvalho), universities, the private sector, environmental entities and unions. The representation and diversity of these bodies in the councils are essential to establish a link between the public sector and civil society, as well as to prioritise the needs of original communities.

Partnerships and Collaboration

In the programme, there are professionals in the areas of biology, exact sciences (forestry, environmental engineer and architect) and human sciences (lawyers). Interdisciplinarity is fundamental in the discussion of urban afforestation, as it involves aspects that go far beyond the simple planting of trees. This multidisciplinary approach allows us to consider environmental, social, economic and health impacts comprehensively, ensuring that afforestation policies are informed, sustainable and capable of creating healthier, more equitable and resilient urban environments. To prepare and execute the programme, meetings are held with the working group for each initiative, which encompasses the different spheres of knowledge. In addition, notes and information are processed on the deliberations held at these meetings and communication between other city hall departments for collaboration in this programme. Another point that must be raised are the actions carried out in partnership with the Municipal Department of Education whose objective is to educate the community about the importance of afforestation in the municipality. To this end, community gardens were opened in neighbourhoods and schools in the region, an action based on three pillars: Environmental Education, Inclusive Education and Training Education.

Addressing Urban Challenges

The Issue

Guarujá faces the phenomenon of accelerated urbanisation, which is often accompanied by deforestation, resulting in serious problems for both the health of the population and the ecosystem. At the Department of the Environment, there are two projects to determine corrective actions in the city’s port area, in partnership with public and private universities. The project “Effects of Atmospheric Pollution on the Respiratory, Cardiovascular System and Quality of Life of Children and Elderly Residents of a Port Area in the Municipality of Guarujá” investigates the impacts of air pollution on human health. On the other hand, the “Environmental Atlas” project presents the concentrations of heavy metals that were determined through the use of plants as pollution bioindicators. The loss of green areas and environmental degradation in the municipality are related to an increase in air pollution, higher temperatures in cities (the so-called “heat island effect”) and a reduction in water quality. It is important to highlight that the municipality has two environmental protection areas (APA): APA Serra do Guararu, which covers an area of 25.6 km2 and APA Serra de Santo Amaro, covering an area of 54.135 km2. In total, the APAs total an area of 74,735 km2 (64.22% of the territory).

The Impact of the Issue

If such measures are not put into practice, the municipality of Guarujá runs the risk of becoming more vulnerable to the advancement of urbanisation and industrialisation, which in turn would threaten biodiversity and environmental protection areas in the region.

According to research carried out in partnership with the Department of the Environment and universities in the city’s port, it was possible to observe a significant amount of harmful particles in Vicente de Carvalho, close to the port. As a way of mitigating the damage caused, it was proposed to plant trees of large size, thus restoring air quality. Furthermore, trees provide shade and cooling, helping to reduce temperatures in urban areas, and thus reducing the risk of diseases such as heatstroke, dehydration, allergies and respiratory problems.

A Nature Oriented Future

The municipality, through the Department of the Environment, implemented the arboreal inventory, to carry out adequate and efficient afforestation planning with preventive measures, thus providing the city with an improvement in the quality of life. Considering that the deforestation of environmental protection areas has a profound impact on people’s way of life. The Environment Secretariat founded a management council formed by the public authorities together with civil society to deliberate on sustainable actions and effective measures for APAS.

Nature Positive Solutions

Implementation

Due to several studies, the municipality of Guarujá observed the need to implement mechanisms for sustainable solutions and regularise the planting of trees, with the initiative being implemented through municipal urban afforestation policies, in partnership with public-private sectors, companies and universities. Over the last five years, this initiative has been expanded through several projects such as: ArBio, which consists of a technological tool that allows trees to be registered and through this register to carry out afforestation planning in the city; Pollution Atlas that verified, through research, atmospheric contamination caused by port activities, pointing out the need for more afforestation in a certain area of the city, in addition to the city gardeners project that provides adequate training for residents. Due to the projects mentioned above, the municipality of Guarujá was able to identify problems in the city and implement tools to improve the quality of life through afforestation.

Feasibility

The programme’s investment originates from an instrument used by the public administration known as the Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC), which aims to resolve, extrajudicially, conflicts involving issues of public interest. It is used in cases of violation of collective rights, with the aim of preventing the continuation of the illegal situation and repairing the damage caused. In addition, other sources are the Municipal Environment Fund and municipal funds. To expand the Programme, public-private partnerships, partnerships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and concessions are carried out. Based on the Municipal Urban Afforestation Policy, the afforestation plan was developed, with the creation of municipal conservation units and the expansion of vegetation cover in the urban area, which is equivalent to 64.22% of the territory.

Multi-Stakeholder Support

Various sectors of society are involved in the initiative, such as academic entities, public authorities, civil society and the private sector. We can highlight the support of universities in research and data collection, providing reliable information and thus contributing to the growth of “green cities”.

Management and Maintenance

Following the creation of environmental protection areas, working groups were formed to discuss the management plan for these sites. Issues related to afforestation in each APA were prioritised so that they could be integrated into the Urban Afforestation Plan. There are municipal laws, decrees and plans (such as the Master Plan) that guide the initiative. In order for the actions designed to be efficient in the long term, they were incorporated into legislation as public policy. Unexpected challenges were resolved through meetings, formation of working groups, partnership with private entities and remodelling of the initiative’s actions.

Measuring and Reporting Impact

Monitoring Results

To monitor results, monthly and semi-annual reports are prepared with data obtained from the Arbio application and results of research promoted by the Department of the Environment. In relation to environmental protection areas, monthly meetings of the Management Council are held to discuss topics involving these locations, call notices are published on the City Hall’s official channels to summon as many citizens as possible, and deliberations are decided upon by vote of the advisors and published in the Official Gazette. The initiative will achieve a positive result through the inclusion of priority areas selected in the Atlantic Forest Municipal Plan (guiding document for afforestation in the municipality), together with the participation of civil society in governmental decisions, mainly with regard to areas which cover riverside and traditional communities. Finally, with the development of studies in collaboration with public and private entities, it is possible to define afforestation strategies for pre-selected areas and disseminate information through official channels to adjacent populations.

Demonstrating Progress

Through continuous monitoring, it becomes possible to outline the data to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative. It is essential that the data is disseminated through official City Hall channels to disseminate information and increase community participation. In this way, the actions adopted can not only serve as a reference for other municipalities but also attract investment from the private sector in order to establish public-private partnerships and develop new studies with academic entities.

Measuring Impact

The Greener City Programme measures the impacts of the initiative in a qualitative and quantitative way. Among the quantitative indicators, we can mention the number of replacements of exotic specimens with native ones, planting of seedlings, number of trees registered through the ArBio application and vegetation cover. On the other hand, qualitative indicators are measured based on legislation – that is, public policies aimed at afforestation that are being developed – and inclusion of the community in the Management Councils of environmental protection areas. The application has more than 10,300 species of trees tracked and the data consists of species, size, characteristics of the planting site (situation of the sidewalk, presence of electrical grid and others) and phytosanitary status. During the period from 2019 to 2022, 2,123 replacements of exotic species with native ones and 2,167 seedlings were planted. Furthermore, an increase in the municipality’s vegetation cover of 1.41% is estimated in the period from 2020 to 2022. From the project, public policies aimed at afforestation were developed, such as the elaboration of the Municipal Urban Afforestation Plan, an afforestation booklet and afforestation law, which show the effectiveness of the initiative.

Learning and Transferability

Adaption and Enhancement

As a result of the pandemic, the Management Board meetings that were held in person were now held online via Google Meet. Some programme goals that were planned for this period underwent readjustment so that they could be met. Among them, there was a programme of lectures in schools regarding the importance of urban afforestation for a more sustainable municipality. These lectures began to take place online, which made it possible for a greater number of people to access them. With the end of the pandemic, several field trips were carried out with children from public and private schools focused on environmental education. In total, more than one hundred visits were made to the Serra de Guararu environmental protection area and, due to the success of the action, other institutions began to schedule new dates for these visits. The participation of citizens was essential to the success of the initiative. Several actions that encompass the programme were publicised and were able to reach a greater number of people.

Potential for Replication

The APA Serra de Guararu management model (Municipal Decree No. 9,948/2012) was internationally recognised by the IUCN (Union for Nature Conservation). The effectiveness of its management council and local ecosystem management, based on experience with riverside communities, encouraged the creation of another environmental protection area in the municipality, the APA Serra de Santo Amaro (Municipal Decree No. 14,365/2021). In addition, training courses and workshops were held for communities located in the APA, in partnership with the Fundação Florestal – a Brazilian entity that works in the area of environmental conservation. There was great support from these communities in the actions promoted by the Department of the Environment and projects aimed at other problems in the municipality were developed. Among them, we can mention Nosso Mares, which consists of collecting sea trash in coastal areas and treating this waste, and air quality studies (Pollution Atlas Project and Investigation of the effects of atmospheric emissions on human health). Given this, based on the APA governance model and the population’s engagement in the actions promoted, other initiatives were developed.

Inspiring Other Cities

The Greener City Programme can inspire other cities to create new municipal environmental protection areas, create an application, develop research focused on urban ecology in the territory, partnerships with universities, inclusion of riverside communities in the construction of public policies and diversity of the Management Council. The ArBio application allows the registration of trees (inventory) and planning of afforestation, recording the location and species suitable for planting. This software can be adopted by other cities to track trees, analyse fall risk and collect data to create and/or review municipal urban afforestation plans. The APA Serra de Guararu governance model can be used as a basis for the creation of new municipal protection areas that use funds only from the City Hall, without assistance from the state. The partnership between the Public Power and universities (public and private) is also a factor that can be adopted by other municipalities as it is an innovative tool for producing knowledge and preparing government plans.

Resilience

Reducing Negative Impacts and Ensuring Sustainability

To reduce the carbon footprint, it is necessary to promote actions that encompass the environmental, social and economic perspective. In the programme, exotic species were replaced with native species, with 2,123 replacements in the period from 2019 to September/2023. Furthermore, carrying out continuous monitoring of planting is essential to ensure that actions are being promoted. The ArBio application contains more than 10,300 registered tree specimens, which allows us to estimate, together with other data, the municipality’s vegetation cover. Between the period from 2020 to 2022, there was an increase of 1.41% in vegetation cover, being 55.54% in 2020 and 56.95% in 2022. Furthermore, integration with green infrastructure is an important strategy to reduce emissions. To this end, the municipality has two environmental protection areas and is analysing the possibility of creating a third, areas adjacent to conservation units and watercourses. It also has 68 tree-lined squares comprising 78,883 m2 in total.

Environmental Considerations

In the initiative, the impacts of the number of replacements of exotic species with native species, planting of new plants for diversification and creation of community gardens using recyclable materials were prioritised. The impacts of these actions are the increase in vegetation cover and the inclusion of the community. Furthermore, air quality studies indicate that with an increase in the degree of afforestation in the port region of the municipality of Guarujá, it is possible to improve air quality and, consequently, the health of the population. In view of this, public policies are being developed.