The panorama and challenges regarding the environmental issue in Campinas were presented by the municipal secretary of Green, Environment and Sustainable Development, Rogério Menezes, at the Institute of Biology (IB) at Unicamp. In the activity, which took place yesterday morning (8), Menezes also highlighted Unicamp's role in sustainable development and criticized what he classified as “anti-environmental state policy” carried out by the federal government.
“It is necessary to use science, knowledge, we are in a dangerous moment in the country where science is relativized”, stated the secretary, highlighting the role of scientific knowledge in advancing the environmental agenda. Unicamp's proposal International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS), for him, is one of the projects that bring impact to drive actions towards an intelligent and sustainable municipality. “This strategic plan is fundamental for the city, it points out the future path of the city’s development, the University was very happy to make this strategic decision, this will have an impact on several areas of Campinas’ urban development”.
In relation to federal policies, Menezes observed that they act towards anti-environmentalism. “We have now entered into such irrationality that we are having, for the first time in the country's history, an anti-environmental State policy, with budget cuts, with the dismantling of environmental structures in Brazil,” he said. For him, the almost four decades of implementation of the National Environmental Policy are being dismantled, with consequences that could even be economic, with international markets reacting to Brazilian products.
Environmental panorama of Campinas
In the presentation on the environmental panorama in the city, the secretary pointed out data about the territory of Campinas, such as the distribution of green areas in the region. The city has an average of 87m² of green area per inhabitant, greater than the ideal average recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is 36m². However, there is inequality in distribution, with particular harm to the southern region, where the average is 6,2m² for the area's almost 450 inhabitants. “It is a third of the population that is separated from green areas, we need to intervene in this”, said the secretary. Linear parks, according to Menezes, would alleviate the problem. 49 of them are being designed, of which 43 should be public and are in the project preparation phase. The financing, however, still has no defined source.
The spraying of green areas, a situation that is not conducive to their preservation, was also highlighted by the secretary. Amidst the various small green spots shown in the presentation, the Santa Genebra Forest, one of the largest fragments of Atlantic Forest in urban areas in Brazil, constitutes an exception, “This is a problem, because for you to have the survival of green areas over the Over the decades, we will need to establish strategies to reconnect these fragments”, he observed.
Other challenges highlighted refer to the preservation and recovery of Campinas' conservation zones - of the 960 hectares planned for reestablishment, 225 have already gone through the replanting phase - and the gradual replacement of diesel-powered public transport by electric buses. In this year's bidding notice, there is already a request that around ⅓ of the fleet have this technology, in the first four years of the concession. The idea is to reduce the release of toxic gases into the atmosphere.
environmental education
In addition to exposing the environmental scenario, Menezes explained the environmental education actions developed by the Secretariat. Based on the Municipal Environmental Education Plan, whose preparation included the participation of Unicamp, there are four areas of action developed in Campinas: educational spaces, training of educators, educommunication and monitoring and evaluation.
In terms of educational spaces, the city currently has four environmental education centers: Joaquim Egídio Environmental Station, Mata de Santa Genebra, Bosque dos Jequitibás and the Águas Knowledge Center. In these places, there are permanent activities and visits by school groups, in addition to society in general, are encouraged.
In Mata de Santa Genebra, the day of demonstrations against climate change, September 20th, brought together 600 students. The activity was called the 1st Meeting on Climate Change with Young Environmental Educators Collectives from Campinas, in reference to the collectives that have been forming in schools and that are also part of the axis of educational spaces. With collectives and educational spaces, it is expected that environmental awareness will be multiplied in the city.
