RIO+20: MOUNTAINS OF BRAZIL at RIO CENTRO by Pizelli, Meire G.

OFFICIAL SIDE EVENT / MOUNTAINS OF BRAZIL

June 21, 2012 14:00 to 15:00 – June 21st, 2012 14:00 to 15:00

Pavilion Room T 11 – T Pavillion room 11

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT- RIO+20

Meire GARCIA PIZELLI, acting as president of Institutional Relations Committee of the ORDER OF LAWYERS OF BRAZIL-SAO PAULO-BARUERI entered in this conference personal reference number 301283, with details to participate in the segment articulated in Agenda 21, called “large groups “Platform Mountains, Valleys, Life and Citizenship For Sustainability in Times Climate Exchange (MVVC), hereby respectfully to the presence of the organizers of this event, expose, and ultimately present their contributions in the form of proposals and recommendations in the manner as follows :

The ORDER OF LAWYERS IN BRAZIL, has a social role and a great representative institutions, so that Article 44 of the Statute Law, Ordinary Law No. 8906 of July 4, 1994, states that exercises public service , endowed with legal personality and federative form, having to basically defend the Constitution, the law of the democratic rule of law, human rights, social justice and strive for good law enforcement, the rapid administration of justice and the enhancement of culture and legal institutions.

The ORDER OF LAWYERS IN BRAZIL, advocates for the improvement of the basic values ​​of our democracy, denouncing the constant violations of the Constitution and human rights in the face of escalating violence and impunity that pervades throughout the country in true disrespect for Brazilian citizenship.

In law, today, not only deals in seeking social justice, but today is looking increasingly to environmental sustainability.

And within this context, we have acted to defend diffuse and collective interests, as well as the individual, if unavailable, with no claim to replace the government, but responsibility for charging administrative inaction or works of environmental and social impact within the State of Sao Paulo .

It is true that this historical moment for Brazil, the UNITED NATIONS (UN) mission is to foster compliance with the agreements of the previous conferences, evaluation of the commitments that were made in pursuit of development with sustainability and the realization that the preservation of environment, natural resources would be decisive for the future of civilization and responsibility to the planet or at least protect the nature of our country

Unfortunately it is not what happens, the destruction of forests is rampant, flora and fauna are extinct without any embarrassment, which actually matters is the economic growth at any cost, no commitment to biodiversity, the large mammals are losing their spaces, which makes the survival of many species.

Recently, changes were made in our Forest Code, drafted a new legislation, there is another code, it became clear that there should be significant care for the environment, lack interest and seriousness that our leaders take ethically with other representatives of other countries, may do so in the speech, but the practice is totally averse, there is a real setback, totally ignore the principles and recommendations of Agenda 21.

In December 2010, I wrote an article for the Alphaville Magazine, which  was uploade to  http:// www.aconteceemalphaville.com.br/oab.htm   only by   January 1st 2011, This  article reverberated like a prophecy, but I am not a prophet, just an observer, with a critical sense, which I transcribe text below:

Who pays for the disorderly occupation of areas?

“Disruption of the use and occupation of land within the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo has caused the deterioration of urban spaces and natural resources.

Over the last few decades, cities unable to solve basic problems of infrastructure, because of its natural growth, even made “blind eye” to significant invasions of migratory populations, which eventually occupy the peripheral areas of cities, home to significant natural resources quality of life for this region.

In a clear demonstration of lack of management, reflects a public unstructured and lacking the ability to predict and assess the impact of consolidation in which the only growth is human poverty, emerging in precarious living conditions in segregation, pollution air and water, and consequently, the nature starts to show signs of exhaustion.

Thus, many ecosystems have been degraded and the population suffers the consequences resulting from damage to the environment, one of the scarcity of drinking water for public supply.

Forested mountains have been deforested and cut alteadas wetlands, springs grounded headwaters alleys used as toilets, banks of streams and reservoirs for drinking water were taken by submoradias, and the goal was to “solve” a social problem through impromptu actions, generating consequently a major social problem, with unpredictable results.

In fact, modest families were used as pawns and treated like “social rubble.” These are people who are no longer exploited, excluded and are unnecessary. From there, we see growing social exclusion, the characterization of the human being, the escalation of violence, with an increasing number of groups with nothing, no opportunities, no guarantees, no rights without obligations, without the possibility of professional achievement and social development.

They are cities where people are drowned or buried, where crime rates are scary, where the lack of infrastructure is huge. One sees this new era of globalized economies that are important to the economic advantages that local, state and country can get through the “emergency measures”, disregarding those who live and lives on the skin of the obstacles to routine social and quality of life which decays at a clearly unsustainable situation.

Economic losses caused by these irresponsible occupations certainly are not being evaluated. As would be needed to bring infrastructure spending and ensure housing for all these families and what the budget of municipalities?

Never before has the political will and social responsibility were so fundamentally needed to establish management procedures that link urban areas of public and private actions in an effort to understand the problems of cities and addressing them appropriate, providing a rational population growth for cities according to the physical support, and that government agents may rediscover its vocation for public policy, applying for these fragile areas, a strategic environmental assessment, using the laws of the country, the technological and scientific development. “

What was not surprising, heavy rains hit the region southeast of the country and brought a great sorrow for the nation in the face of natural disasters that have occurred:

In the early hours of this day, a strong storm hit the city of Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, collapse of a hillside reaching several houses with fatalities;

City of Petropolis and the mountain region of Rio de Janeiro, collapse of slopes with thousands of victims;

City of St. John Meriti / RJ, considered National Historic Landmark, was completely taken by flood, due to the overflowing of the river that destroyed the city

Cidade de Niterói/RJ, the hill Bumba, dwellings over a garbage disposal area suffered slip off, consequently destroyed all houses there built causing deaths and homeless

NOVA FRIBURGO / SC, crumbling slope, flooding and a large number of casualties.

The above  info demonstrates unequivocally been treated as natural resources and land use, how do I forward a proposal to be included studies Assessment of Vulnerability to Climate Change and Extreme Events (AVMC), due to climate change which increased the volume rainfall in southern and southeastern regions, the highlands become more vulnerable, where there are occupations in areas of risk, there is need to adopt a plan to rescue and save victims buried by landslides or flooding of slopes, which are fairly predictable situations and need the involvement of municipalities around the area, which have hospitals, mobile ICU ambulances and specialized technical staff in order to guard themselves through remedial and mitigating measures in order to avoid the higher duty to offset the losses.

Justified, therefore, the proposed insertion of Assessment Climate Change and Extreme Events in the Environmental Impact Assessment in projects that aim to occupy forested areas and hillsides with steep slopes.

Brief  Considerations Br116/SP – Brazil RODOVIA REGIS BITTENCOURT SERRRA DO CAFEZAL

For the last, this conferencist makes the following remaks  about the  environmental  and technical issues upon the ampliation of Régis Bittencourt Highway / SP (Br-116) Brazil, along Serra do Cafezal (Serra do Mar- Atlantic Coastal Range) regarding  the OAB studies and actions in support and association of  not only Brazilian civil society, but also global civil society, for  the   last  fifteen years, regarding their aspirations of implementing  an effective sustainable highway, in this pristine Sao Paulo rainforest sector, and specially, in one of the most.  traditional and sustainable project in these mountains regions, called Iterei.

The  present design improvements are the result of the manifestations of civil society and environmentalists and are far away from the desirable.

Before for a total of 29,80 km extension,  DNER proposed 4.6 km on   works of art (2.33 Km being in tunnels and 2.32 Km  in viaducts). Today for a total of 19 Km , the OHL Group and ANTT, have proposed 8.80 Km with  works of art (1.80 km in tunnels and  7 km in viaducts), according to the newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo, and remembering that the works of art had always mainly focused this 19 km segment of the Serra do  Cafezal Mountains, also in Serra do Mar ( Atlantic Coastal Reange)..

Comparatively, the Highway dos Imigrantes had approved the project  for  another sector of  Serra do Mar in 1998, in a  total extension of  18 km,  but with only 11.1 km   along  the coastal range, and there,   11 km were built  with  works of art, being 7.4 km tunnel and 3.6 km in viaducts . 15 years after it is designed for the Regis Bittencourt Highway with  a total length of 19 Km along the Mountains called Serra do Cafezal, only 8.8 km with  works of art, being 1.8 km in tunnels and 7.0 km in viaducts.

COMPARATIVE TABLE

Serra Cafezal, Régis Bittencourt receives now technological improvements in its design wich were surpassed  by the Serra of Imigrantes, s fifteen years ago. The table above shows that the Highwau dos Imigrantes applied to the stretch of Mountains 100% of works of art, preserving all of the Atlantic Forest biome of the Serra do Mar. Unlikely for the Cafezal Mountains at Régis Bittencourt, the government is not  taking the same care to the preservation of the natural resources of these mountains,  ans is investing under 50% in works of art, with the remainder of the work of doubling in cuts and embankments.

The federal highway system has a lot to evolve.

The improvements made to the ampliation project of Serra do Cafezal, Regis Bittencourt Highway in Sao Paulo, proves  that  civil society organizations claims were full of reason.

It is important to remember,  that civil society offered in advance to Rodovia dos Imigrantes Highway, to DNER, now DNIT, the  transposition of the Cafeazal Mountains at Regis Bittencourt, through technological alternative, which  reduced the length of the stretch, diminished  the costs and travel times, reduced the ramp and  among the several environmental benefits, offered  as well the desired security for users and also would lower  the costs for the maintenance of the highway.

The  nowadays designed duplication between Kms 353 and 354 adjacent to the track ,  shows the feasibility of what was  proposed  by  the civil organizations and comproves  there was no foundation in the mountain region, a central space/ gap of 13 m.

The intervention between km 356 to 358 reduces and prevents curves  and the interception on the State Park of Serra do Mar.

If authorities keep and independent  track, along the KMs 349 to 351,  despite the current proven knowledge of a number three times greater of streams, than the number of streams  showed in  the earlier environmental studies,  the  authorities   should at least amplify the number of overpasses. Moreover, one can not forget that the entrepreneur Obrascon Huarte Lain- OHL Group informed the feasibility of an alternative with less impact, and compatible with the claims of the civil entities, betwen these kilometers.

While duplication does not come out, some measures can be taken to prevent accidents, among them,  the  normalization of the gap at the edges of present highway “borda do acostamento” along the several kilometers which have not been corrected yet.

It is important to remember that the ground filling, of the valleys and waterproofs may have catastrophic consequences for the surrounding population and downhill, especially with climate change.

Thank you I for  the honor to be participating in this magnificent event..

Cordially.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 21, 2012

Meire GARCIA PIZELLI

(05511) 3601-3124 / 9933-0836