Seizing resilience windows to foster passive recovery in the forest-water interface in Amazonian lands.

Forest regeneration has increased in many tropical abandoned lands and current restoration commitments in this region aim to restore over 1,400,000 km2 of degraded land by 2030. Although regenerating forests recover biomass, biodiversity, and processes with time, the recovery trajectories may be uncertain due to past disturbances. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge to sustain the effectiveness of passive regeneration for the recovery of riparian forests and the adjacent waterbodies in the tropics, which may compromise the outcomes of ongoing and future tropical riparian restoration programs. We evaluated the drivers of riparian forest structural recovery and how this relates to stream conditions in 12 abandoned pasturelands in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. These pasturelands range across regeneration age (pasture (PA) - 0 to 4 years; young regeneration (YR) - 8 to 12 years; old regeneration (OR) - 18 to 22 years) and years of past land-use (PA - 23.25 average years of past land-use, YR - 18.25, OR - 7). We compared the conditions of these sites to 4 reference sites with conserved forests (REF, >100 years), where there was no recorded pasture use in the past. Short-term responses of forests and streams to passive regeneration indicated high ecosystem resilience after low to intermediate past land-use intensity, reflected in the improvement of stream ecosystems. Such high resilience is possibly attributable to low- to intermediate-intensity pasture-related disturbances, remaining forest matrix, and residual structures (e.g. roots, sprouts, and in-stream wood) observed in the area. Our results suggest a recovery by 12 to 20 years for riparian forests of this region. However, areas degraded by intensive land-use apparently showed delayed recovery. We conclude that seizing resilience windows (defined here as the period when ecosystems retain high potential resilience) is essential to foster passive recovery of riparian forests and streams more cost-effectively in the tropics.

Água e saúde no município de Igarapé-Açu, Pará / Water and health in Igarapé-Açu, Pará, Brazil

Resumo Este artigo visa analisar e compreender a relação entre água e saúde em comunidades rurais situadas na microbacia do igarapé Cumaru, município de Igarapé-Açu (PA), nordeste paraense. São avaliados a captação e o tratamento de água para o consumo humano, considerando as práticas de esgoto sanitário realizadas cotidianamente pela população rural dessa microbacia, visto que têm implicação direta na saúde da população local. Este trabalho baseia-se em pesquisa de campo com uma abordagem quali-quantitativa. Utilizou-se questionário fechado para o levantamento das fontes de captação, saneamento rural e usos de insumos agrícolas. Foram consideradas observações feitas por agricultores familiares da região ao focar o funcionamento do estabelecimento agrícola, a fim de observar de diversos ângulos a relação entre água e saúde no seu entendimento. Observou-se que a vulnerabilidade das fontes de água acessadas pela população é um fator que contribui para a contaminação das fontes, caracterizando consequentemente uma ameaça à saúde da população rural. Entretanto, nota-se a percepção da população quanto às fontes de água mais profundas, como poços tubulares, sendo estes prioritários para captação de água para ingestão.

Abstract This article aims to analyze and understand the relationship between water and health in rural communities located in the watershed of Cumaru stream, in the municipality Igarapé-Açu, Northeast of Pará state. The harvesting and treatment of the water conducted by the rural population for human consumption were assessed, considering their practices of sanitary sewer, since these aspects have direct impact on their health. This study is based on field research with a quantitative approach. Closed questionnaire was used to raise the sources of water harvesting, rural sanitation, and use of agricultural inputs. We used participant observation, when focusing on the functioning of the agricultural establishment, to observe from various angles the relationship between water and health. We noted that the vulnerability of the water resources accessed by the population is a factor that contributes to the contamination of the sources, therefore a threat to the health of the rural population. However, the perception of the population is notable regarding deeper water sources, such as tube wells, which are priorities for water harvesting.