In one of the most environmentally damaged areas of Brazil's Mata Atl_½ntica forest, work is under way to reforest a watershed that supplies Rio de Janeiro, while also establishing a "reforestation market" that stimulates local job creation and local consumption.
The Santana River Environmental Protection Area was chosen because the river is one of the main tributaries of the Guandù River, which supplies water to 80 percent of the Rio metropolitan area, home to 10 million people.

Progressive deforestation is compromising both the quality and the production of water, because just 30 percent of the original forest cover remains intact.

This part of Rio de Janeiro state is also an economically stagnant area. In the past, the forest was cleared to create pasture for cattle, which was then supposed to drive economic development. But currently, the economy has stalled. The strategy was to hire local workers -- many who otherwise had unstable jobs or were unemployed.
The 35 women and men now have a formal job contract and benefits, earning much more than the minimum wage, and they don't have to travel long distances to their worksites.

The Guandù River watershed is home to the pilot programme of payments for ecosystem services. The landowners who give over an area for reforestation, who reforest what they have or preserve remnant forests, receive money twice a year for that preservation. To contribute to the creation of the ecological market, the project is also utilising the local workforce for planting and collection of seeds.

The effort is producing results. In just three months, the reforesters planted about 100,000 native trees, among them is the species that was named Brazil's national tree in 1978: the Brazilwood, or Pau-Brasil (caesalpinia echinata).

It is an endangered species. Some historians say the tree was originally utilised to extract a colouring used in red dyes for textiles or paint, known as brazilin -- the Portuguese' first exploitation of natural resources when they reached these lands in the 16th century.

The reforestation work means preventing soil erosion, and therefore preventing landslides along the river. It will also keep water sources like smaller tributaries from drying up and will improve the quality of water consumed by the people living in Rio de Janeiro. Rio water treatment plant spends in three months to remove impurities would be enough for a year of payments to all of the rural landowners in the Guand__ watershed for preserving their forests and maintaining the associated "environmental services."

While reforestation improves soil quality, stabilises the regional microclimate, fights global warming by capturing carbon, and improves potable water quality, it also provides a greater monthly income for dozens of families.