Águas da Mantiqueira Project

The Águas da Mantiqueira Project was created in partnership with the Agriculture Research & Development Foundation (FUNDEPAG) in 2017. The initiative aims at biodiversity conservation, territorial planning, and sustainable socioeconomic development in the municipalities of the Serra da Mantiqueira region.

Since 2017, researchers have conducted a diagnosis of the Atlantic Forest remnants — distributed across 10 watersheds in Santo Antônio do Pinhal (in the State of São Paulo) — that are essential to the maintenance of water resources. In addition, they have verified the impact on the sustainability of rural and urban areas with studies on biodiversity, agriculture, education, solid waste, and tourism.

With this result, the research determines the territorial planning of the region — respecting the ecological characteristics of the natural areas of the municipality —, which is essential to define the socioeconomic development guidelines and guarantee the conservation of the local biodiversity and the continuity in supplying the community and millions of people who depend on the waters of the mountain range. 

As of 2019, the 37 watersheds in Sapucaí-Mirim (a town in the state of Minas Gerais) began to be diagnosed. The third stage of the project should take place in Gonçalves (in the state of Minas Gerais) in 2021.

Serra da Mantiqueira

The Serra da Mantiqueira region is one of the largest mineral water provinces in the world. It is approximately 500 km long and passes through municipalities in three Brazilian states: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. In 2013, Science Magazine recognized it as the 8th most important ecosystem in the world.

The forests, natural fields and fauna of the Atlantic Forest are distributed over the relief of the mountain range, allowing for a unique climate and the largest concentration of mineral water in quantity and quality on the planet! These are the characteristics that give the region an essential role for the Cantareira System, in São Paulo, which daily supplies more than five million people.

Did you know?

Mantiqueira is a Tupi-Guarani term: “Amantikir”. “Amana” means “rain”, and “tiqueira” means “dripping”. It was known by the indigenous people who inhabited the region as “Mountain that cries” due to the great number of waterfalls.

Santo Antônio do Pinhal Almanac

Download the Almanac and check out tips, curiosities, and information about the environment.