Initiative, led by IUCN in partnership with the Renova Foundation, brought together a multidisciplinary team to analyze the best actions to restore and mitigate the effects of the collapse in the Doce River
How to restore an ecosystem after a disaster? That was what the Doce River Panel sought to answer, which ended its activities after almost six years. The project led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in partnership with the Renova Foundation, left a legacy of ten scientific publications with 33 recommendations for the restoration of the basin affected by tailings from the Fundão dam, in Mariana, Minas Gerais.
The panel was created in 2017 and formed by an independent multidisciplinary team, which brought assessments and recommendations, in socioeconomic and environmental aspects, aimed at restoring and mitigating impacts.
The initiative leaves analyzes and guidelines for actions that will be carried out by the Renova Foundation, in partnership with various public bodies, as well as private institutions, so that the biodiversity of the Doce River Basin is restored and preserved.
Among the challenges pointed out by the Doce River Panel are looking at climate issues and a combined source-sea and landscape approach, considering all the impacts on water quality.
Interested parties
The actions are being debated and implemented by the Renova Foundation, CIF and its technical chambers, Federal, state and municipal governments, Basin committees, state bodies and regulatory institutions, Legislative and Judiciary powers and the Public Prosecution Service.
Also involved are universities and research institutes, national and international corporations, legal advisors, the affected population and their technical advisors, representative associations, private companies in the basin and NGOs that work in the restoration process.
The role of the IUCN
The IUCN, a specialist in environmental restoration projects around the world, sought to point out the best ways to recover the affected biodiversity. Steve Edwards, the institution’s project manager, explained that some adopted solutions were used previously in other countries, such as Nigeria and Russia.
“It’s something we’ve used before in challenging places like the Niger Delta in Nigeria or gas exploration in the Arctic and off the coast of Russia. We felt it could be a useful mechanism for restoration efforts in the Doce River Basin,” he said.