Quarenta Stream Renaturalization: Harmony Between Development and Historical Preservation in Brazil

Abstract

Climatic issues have drawn the attention of researchers to the Amazon, referring above all to environmental sustainability and the preservation of the largest tropical forest in the world. However, urban environmental degradation is related to the stagnation of watersheds by canalization; rectification of watercourses and urban spaces occupation disorderly, impacted by social inequalities, compromise socio-environmental and cultural sustainability. Avoiding or mitigating such degradation is generally attributed to the sphere of public policies, whose insufficiency and/or absence aggravate urban problems, whether water and sewage, atmospheric pollution, solid and/or industrial waste. Manaus, the largest financial, corporate, and commercial point in the north of Brazil is embedded in the heart of the Amazon Forest, endowed with a set of hydrographic basins, whose numerous streams permeate all areas of the city, coexists each year with the recurring Negro River floods. In 2021, the Rio Negro flood reached 30.02 m, a historic record in 119 years. The official data indicate that in that year 15 districts suffered flooding, impacting the lives of approximately 24,000 people. The Educandos district, one of the oldest and with the greatest urban concentration, whose history is intertwined with the history of Manaus, located in the middle-south of the city, was very affected by the flood. The mainsprings of the watershed that permeates Educandos are the Educandos, Mestre Chico, and Quarenta streams, which flow into the Negro River. This work, based on the successful experience of a Mindu section basin renaturalization and the creation of the Mindu National Park, studies the important and urgent need for the Quarenta stream renaturalization, to prevent and minimize floods in Manaus, while proposing the creation of a historical site of stilts and the floating city, preserving the culture and respect for the native people.