March 16, 2022

17:03

Bruno Pacheco – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – In a structure assembled in the research boat Roberto dos Santos Vieira, inaugurated this Tuesday, 15th, by governor Wilson Lima (União Brasil), in the Juruá Shipyard, in Iranduba, researchers will study the quality of the Amazon rivers’ water in one of the biggest environmental monitoring actions in Brazil. The initiative is part of the Water, Air, and Soil Monitoring Program of the state government (ProQAS/AM).

“We are delivering a boat-laboratory to analyze the quality of the water, the air, and the soil. This is something unprecedented. It is the biggest research station on the planet and it couldn’t be different in the state of Amazonas, which has the biggest freshwater reserve in the world. Initially, the work will be focused in Manaus, in the regions of Tarumã, Tarumã-mirim, Puraquequara, and São Raimundo Basin; afterwards the project will make some expeditions throughout the state”, said governor Wilson Lima.

The boat was given to the University of the State of Amazonas (UEA), through a Technical Cooperation Agreement (ACT) with the Institute of Environmental Protection of Amazonas (Ipaam), for the monitoring work of ProQAS/AM.

According to the governor, the vessel was donated by Atem Distributor and has four laboratories for the research that intends to analyze the variations that occur in the physical, chemical, and biological effects of the water due to human activities and natural phenomena.

“There is no way we can preserve the forest if we don’t preserve mankind and don’t provide minimum survival conditions for those who are there in Juruá, Purus, for example. The forest is only standing because of these men and it only makes sense to be standing if we have potable water to give to these people”, reinforced Wilson Lima.

Equipment

The monitoring equipment is being assembled with resources from the State Environmental Fund (Fema), linked to the State Environmental Secretariat (Sema), which has about R$ 40 million to develop programs focused on environmental guidelines. With this initiative, the researchers will analyze the waters of the Amazon rivers to find out which are suitable for consumption. The studies will serve to indicate which public preservation policies the state government should take.

“This boat will be fundamental in the environmental issue and will tell us which path we have to follow, which public policies we have to implement for the protection of the environment. The project goes beyond, because it goes through issues for our survival, such as economic, social, and health issues. It is important to know the quality of the waters of these rivers and to know if they are fit for consumption”, the governor of Amazonas pointed out.

The boat cost about R$ 8 million with resources from the Atem Group, the State Fund for the Environment and the Institute of Environmental Protection of the Amazon (Ipaam). The first phase of monitoring should start at the end of April, according to Professor Sergio Duvoisin, coordinator of the research group of Chemistry Applied to Technology at UEA.

“This first project will start at the end of April, when we will monitor the quality of these five basins that surround Manaus and every three months we will have a new campaign. The idea is, every year, to have four collections to generate data. When we are solving a problem, we need to know the extent of it. And from now on, these monitoring projects of the program will subsidize the public management for better actions in these watersheds”, highlighted Sérgio Duvoisin.

Global debate

The inauguration of the boat and the launch of the environmental monitoring program in Amazonas, for governor Wilson Lima, are of global importance and come in a context that precedes the debates on problems and solutions to climate change and deforestation in tropical forest states and provinces around the world, which will be promoted in Manaus, between March 16 and 18, at the Annual Meeting of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force).

The event, organized in partnership with the state government, through the Secretariat of Environment (Sema), will be attended by more than 300 officials, leaders and guests from ten countries, such as Colombia, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Peru. The meeting will also be broadcast simultaneously on the website: www.gcftf.org.

“It is the first GCF event since the pandemic began and the first major environmental event in the Amazon, where the world will have its attention focused on the Amazon. At the meeting, we will release the Manaus Charter: the Manaus Action Plan, which includes strategies to combat deforestation, fires, and above all, poverty. It will be a very important event for us to discuss these paths for sustainable development issues and the conciliation with forest preservation”, emphasized Wilson Lima.