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Thematic project identifies and preserves biodiversity in a bay on the coast of SP

Research coordinated by a professor at Unicamp, in São Sebastião, results in a detailed survey of the region

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In 2010, an editorial in a newspaper in the city of São Sebastião, on the North Coast of São Paulo, which declared the Araçá Bay, located in the central part of the municipality's Canal, to be dead, aroused the indignation of the surrounding residents, including caiçaras who, with the announced expansion of the local port, which borders it, they considered this nursery of life threatened – fundamental for the sustainability of the families that live there and for the maintenance of their cultural identity. In an unprecedented initiative, the residents resorted to the help of researchers, perhaps made easier because around 60 years ago, coming from several universities, they studied the area and found logistical support from the Center for Marine Biology at the University of São Paulo (CEBIMar-USP), installed very close to the bay.

It was then that the academic community, made up of researchers, professors and students from different institutions, took to the field to study the real situation of the bay and provide information and concrete elements so that the legal authorities involved could issue a sentence that would prevent its burial, even partial, or the construction of platforms on the waterbed, which would lead to the extermination of a large part of the fauna, compromising the tourist and leisure use of a unique landscape, made up of beaches, mangroves, rocky shores, adjacent to the São Sebastião Channel, where the depth reaches 30 meters.

Although researchers from Unicamp, and mainly from USP, who had been working in the region for years, were aware of the richness of animal and plant species present there, a more systematic and comprehensive study was necessary to allow them to understand the biota of Araçá Bay. That was when Professor Cecília Amaral, from the Animal Biology Department of the Biology Institute (IB) at Unicamp, took on the coordination of a thematic project that, in addition to studying the richness of plant and animal species in the bay, aimed at carrying out a broad survey of the environment and its multiple influences on the survival of these organisms.

Photo: Scarpa
Professor Cecília Amaral, coordinator of the thematic project

To this end, there was a need to understand how this coastal region works in systemic terms, considering physical, biological and social processes, including sediment circulation and transport, trophic interactions, matter and energy flows, production and fishing dynamics, among others. Furthermore, it was necessary to survey the services provided by the environment, economic or not, direct and indirect, with emphasis on those derived from marine biodiversity, and also assess the socioeconomic importance of the region, suggesting proposals for participatory action that would allow for the sustainability of the area and enabled dialogue between science, population and decision makers. The professor believes that the study gave rise to a robust set of information that made it possible to show that the structure of the bay should not be altered. Its most immediate and visible result was the judicial suspension of the expansion of the Port of São Sebastião.


Biota

The complexity of this approach required the compatibility of thirteen study modules: planktonic, nektonic, benthic, mangrove systems, in addition to hydrodynamics, sedimentary dynamics, trophic interactions, fisheries diagnosis, identification and valuation of ecosystem services, integrated management and ecological modeling, management and data sharing, hydrocarbons and trace metals in sediment. In this work, Professor Cecília had the collaboration of experts in these different areas and four researchers from USP who helped in the general coordination of the project.

The Biota/Fapesp-Araçá Project, started in 2012 and concluded in 2017, had the participation of a group of experts from different areas and Brazilian institutions such as biologists, geologists, physicists, chemists, as well as experts in fishing and management and also professionals specialized in working with databases and mathematical models. 

Photo: Cecília Amaral
Sampler for collecting sediment from a sandy bottom, for studying fauna | Photo: Cecília Amaral

In 2015, a first sample of the results obtained gave rise to the book “Life in Baía do Araçá: diversity and Importance”, the result of the collective effort of researchers and students who, in accessible language, aimed to disseminate scientific knowledge, inform the public opinion and support decision makers and administrators and judicial bodies on the importance of preserving ecosystems and biodiversity.

In the preface to this publication aimed at non-specialists, professor Alvaro Esteves Migotto, from CEBIMar-USP, predicted the scope of the project: “There is nothing similar done in Brazil and studies of this type are rare in the world. Integrating data on physical-chemical, biological and socioeconomic processes that will make it possible to understand in depth the dynamics of the bay, the project will have as one of its main results the quantitative characterization of the environmental services provided by a model environment”.

In the same publication, the coordinator of the Biota/Fapesp Program, professor Carlos Alfredo Joly, from the Institute of Biology (IB) at Unicamp, stated very appropriately: “The book focuses not only on the scientific community but also on academic audiences outside the walls, such as local communities and leaders, members of non-governmental organizations (residents' and environmental associations), representatives of the State and Federal Public Ministry, specialized media and opinion makers, as well as representatives of public and private organizations with interests in local socioeconomic development (Port of São Sebastião, City Hall of São Sebastião, Sabesp, Petrobrás). It seeks to disseminate the knowledge generated, using a language that associates scientific rigor with objectivity and simplicity, raising the level of information of the local population, enabling them to effectively participate in decisions that impact biodiversity, ecosystem services and socioeconomic aspects and cultural aspects of the region”.

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On the left, São Sebastião Channel, Araçá Bay next to the Port of São Sebastião (Brazilian Navy - Hydrography and Navigation); on the right, Araçá Bay - details showing the different types of environments, beach, rocky coast, tidal flat, mangroves, islands and a sublittoral that reaches more than 30 m deep (graphic by Tatiana Steiner)

As the project progressed, and as its results were published, several Brazilian and foreign institutions became interested and began to join it, consolidating today the publication of more than one hundred articles in international journals that culminated recently, last October , in the special edition of the magazine Ocean & Coastal Management, dedicated exclusively to the publication of 16 articles resulting from the Biota/Fapesp-Araçá project, which aimed to provide subsidies for the management of a subtropical coastal ecosystem, Baia do Araçá, which as a result of the findings revealed itself to be one of the places with the highest richness and diversity of species on the Brazilian coast. Professor Migotto's predictions, on the occasion of the first publication, were thus fulfilled.

Professor Cecília recalls that, above all, the project enabled the training of a large number of young researchers, substantially expanding scientific training for studies on biodiversity, conservation and marine management in the State of São Paulo. The project enabled the integration of around 180 researchers from 32 institutions in nine countries, which allowed the expansion of ecological, social, economic and political interpretations. Furthermore, actions developed with the local community and the scientific knowledge acquired allowed a better understanding of the ecosystem services provided by the bay and enabled an objective dialogue between scientists and decision makers.

Photo: Gabriel Monteiro
Oil tanker in the São Sebastião Channel | Photo: Gabriel Monteiro

The professor also remembers that Araçá Bay represents many of the conflicts that affect several other coastal regions of Brazil and the world, hence the national and international interest in this study. For her, all the researchers who participated in the project, which lasted five years, are very proud to have contributed to its realization.

FAPESP financed all the project's needs in terms of equipment, materials, national and international travel and scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students. But, in addition, many scholarships were granted from CNPq, Capes and even funding agencies from other states.


Publications intended for the public

Ten books worth highlighting are published in accessible language and richly illustrated, aimed at the general public, such as local residents and authorities, and available online. The first, “Life in Baía do Araçá - diversity and importance”, which was printed in 2015, arose from the need to show the population, public policy makers, the Public Ministry, prosecutors and judges that the bay can be considered one of the richest areas of the Brazilian coast and it is imperative to preserve it. Foreigners who had access to the project, through lectures held in Brazil and abroad, requested that the publication have an English version because they intended to implement a similar project in their countries.

In 2016, two printed publications were also launched. One of them suggests a “Local sustainable development plan for Baia do Araçá” and reports what happens there and the opinion of the surrounding residents. The other, “Unveiling the oceans: a look at Araçá Bay”, was designed to be used as a primer by the local population and in schools. All of these publications can be accessed in the Unicamp and USP digital libraries.  

Photo: Gabriel Monteiro
Panoramic photo of Araçá Bay, showing the different types of environments beach, rocky shore, tidal flat, mangrove, islands and a sub-coast that reaches more than 30 m deep | Photo: Gabriel Monteiro

Professor Cecília highlights an important aspect that guided the project: the concern with giving back to the community, a rare fact in academic work, making the results found and the importance of biodiversity conservation reach all segments. By the way, she says: “That's how we managed to get the judge, who was responsible for judging the action forwarded by the Public Prosecutor's Office, to receive subsidies to defend the demand of residents and their associations, as the port already had an expansion license approved by Ibama. Hence the importance of publications that can reach the population, governments and the judiciary. It is through texts that are palatable to the general public that researchers can show their strength”.

 

 

JU-online cover image
Audio description: in a panoramic and open-air image, a small fishing boat, about ten meters long and part of the cabin closed, painted in white, yellow, blue and red, is anchored close to the banks of a small beach, with a narrow strip of sand, rocks and dense vegetation at the bottom. In the sand, there is a person handling plastic containers, while in the water, there are some birds feeding. The weather is sunny. Image 1 of 1.

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