{"id":23581,"date":"2015-08-19T09:00:07","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T12:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=23581"},"modified":"2017-11-06T20:30:24","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T23:30:24","slug":"where-is-the-serra-da-misericordia-municipal-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=23581","title":{"rendered":"Where is the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia Municipal Park?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"PT\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On December 16, 2010 Mayor Eduardo Paes<\/a> signed Decree 33.280<\/a> to establish Leopoldina Municipal Urban Park in the\u00a0Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia<\/a>, located in the North Zone<\/a> of Rio. In 2012, the project received a R$15 million (US$7.5 million)\u00a0investment, of which nearly R$11 million (US$5.5 million) came from the socio-environmental foundation of Caixa Econ\u00f4mica, the federal public bank. Yet, it was recently discovered that the project has been abandoned and the funds returned.<\/p>\n

Residents and environmental groups in the North Zone are demanding answers from the City, asking:\u00a0\u201cWhere is the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia Municipal Park?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Verdejar's<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

To mobilize\u00a0the community and draw visibility to the issue, on August 1\u00a0<\/span>and 2, NGO Verdejar<\/a>\u2014a widely respected community socio-environmental group responsible for reforesting much of the Serra and operating in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>\u00a0since 1997\u2014organized a mutir\u00e3o<\/a> (collective action) day of planting, a hike, and an afternoon of music and educational activities. Other organizations from the community\u00a0collaborated on the event, including\u00a0Centro de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o\u00a0Multicultural (CEM)<\/a>, Barraco 55<\/a>, and Instituto Raizes em Movimento<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mountains of Mercy<\/h3>\n

The Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia is a rocky massif spanning 43.9 square kilometers in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The name Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia, <\/em>which translates to Mountains of Mercy, is connected to a folktale about the construction of the iconic Church of Penha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Urban and industrial development in the region, however, has wielded little mercy upon Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia. The massif\u2019s unique positioning has created tensions between environmental preservation<\/a>, the urbanization and growth of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, and industrial activities.<\/p>\n

Edson Gomes, co-founder of Verdejar, explains that due to its location, the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia \u201cgains a very strategic socio-environmental importance for the city because it\u2019s the last area of Atlantic Forest in all of the North Zone of the city.\u201d Located within Planning Area<\/a> 3 (AP3)\u2014an urban planning designation containing the North Zone, the most populous zone in the municipality with over 2.5 million inhabitants\u2014the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia is\u00a0the last expansive green space in the\u00a0area, bordering 27 neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Edson continues: \u201cIt\u2019s exactly here that you have a series of violated rights, including this: the right to a healthy environment, guaranteed by the constitution and various international conventions. This right, like many others in Brazil, is disrespected. It\u2019s not due to the lack of societal and community mobilization that we don\u2019t have this right guaranteed\u2026 There are a number of groups that incorporate the fight for the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia in their causes. It\u2019s also not due to the lack of law\u2026 laws have been established as a\u00a0product of this movement. So, why are the public authorities absent? Maybe\u00a0they\u2019re present, but they don\u2019t recognize the socio-ecological potential of this Serra.”<\/p>\n

Legislation and Loopholes<\/h3>\n

2000: Area of Environmental Protection and Urban Recuperation<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

In 2000, after lobbying\u00a0by Verdejar and collaborating\u00a0social and environmental movements in the region, Municipal Decree 19.144 designated the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia an Area of Environmental Protection and Urban Recuperation (APARU). In theory, this legislation introduced a broad framework of environmental protections to the area\u2014including \u201cenvironmental recuperation\u2026 preserv[ing] and amplify[ing] biodiversity\u201d\u2014as well as urban development goals, including promoting the \u201c(legal) regularization of existing favelas,\u201d the development of \u201crecreation, leisure, and eco-tourism,\u201d and the development of \u201cenvironmental education programs\u201d in order to \u201cimprove the quality of life of the local population.\u201d<\/p>\n

An additional goal envisioned by the legislation was\u00a0\u201cto promote the compatibility between profiting from [or, taking advantage of] the earth and defending the environment, by means of revising the parameters of use and occupation of the grounds.\u201d This objective refers to the presence of private stone quarries located within the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia.<\/p>\n

\"Pedreira<\/a><\/p>\n

The geological richness\u00a0of the area brought mining companies to develop quarries for concrete production as early as the 1940s.\u00a0Currently, three companies continue to operate in the region: the French group Lafarge, Sociedade Nacional de Engenharia e Constru\u00e7\u00e3o, and Anhanguera.<\/p>\n

Verdejar\u00a0is fed up with the City\u2019s excuses\u2014first legal, then financial\u2014for having failed to enforce environmental protections and implement social and educational activities in the area. Edson\u00a0speculates that the City \u201cmust be trying to attend to other interests that aren\u2019t those of the [local] population. Could it be because within the area there is a multinational enterprise called Lafarge, the owner of Mau\u00e1 Cement, which is a partner of\u00a0[construction and engineering conglomerate] Odebrecht in many construction projects of the City of Rio de Janeiro?\u201d Considering the construction boom in Rio de Janeiro propelled by the 2016 Olympic Games<\/a>, the City\u2019s interest in maintaining local cement producers\u2014dramatically reducing transportation costs\u2014is no surprise.<\/p>\n

The continuity of these industrial\u00a0activities\u2014uninhibited by the APARU designation as the quarries operate protected by environmental licenses granted by the State Institute of the Environment (INEA)\u2014represents an enormous obstacle for environmental preservation efforts in the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia.<\/p>\n

Though the\u00a0APARU designation yielded few practical environmental protections, the status gain was a victory celebrated by Verdejar. Edson said: \u201cIt was the first decree that arrived\u2014that didn\u2019t guarantee<\/em> [these protections]\u2014but was the first decree that included <\/em>the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia, categorizing<\/em> the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia as a protected area.\u201d<\/p>\n

2006: Serra da Misericordia Municipal Park<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

In 2006, Mayor Cesar Maia signed Municipal Decree 27.469<\/a>, establishing Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia as a Municipal Park. This means the area is defined as a natural park, emphasizing environmental protection, conservation, and education, establishing areas dedicated to public visitation and research, projecting reforestation and native species protection activities, delimiting the bounds of appropriate urban expansion, and harnessing the area\u2019s potential for the cultivation of wind energy.<\/p>\n

Similar to the 2000 legislation, this new decree offered the potential for major strides in environmental efforts, but its effects were limited. Edson describes this legislation process as\u00a0non-participatory\u2014the idea of a natural park was not discussed with social movements or residents of the area. Verdejar\u2019s insistence on opening up public debate over the plans was unwelcome by city authorities, Edson states. He describes: \u201cThis decree from 2006, we believe, is the result of [our] struggle\u2014but emerged detached<\/em> from the struggle because it was created by the cabinet of the mayor at the time, Cesar Maia, who never discussed it with us. Historically, the secretaries of the environment\u2014everyone from the municipality and the State\u2014have seen Verdejar as a non-partner because we are resoundingly radical about the ethical issue of our struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verdejar has experienced fraught relations with City authorities over the years, perhaps culminating in 2012 when the organization’s\u00a0headquarters was demolished by Light<\/a>, the public utility electric company. The demolition was justified by plans to build\u00a0an electrical substation, but these plans still have yet to be implemented.<\/p>\n

2010: Serra da Miseric<\/strong>\u00f3<\/strong>rdia Municipal Urban Park, Leopoldina Park <\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

In 2010, Mayor Eduardo Paes signed\u00a0Municipal Decree 33.280<\/a>. Overriding the 2006 decree, this decree transformed Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia into a Municipal Urban Park. Under the guise of environmental conservation and social development, this new decree effectively stripped the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia of the environmental protections established by the 2006 legislation and placed the area under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Parks and Gardens Foundation.<\/p>\n

Edson explained: \u201cWe are talking about the fourth largest mountain range in the city. There are hundreds of springs, and it subdivides a quarter of the most polluted water sub-basins of the Guanabara Bay. It\u2019s the last fragment of Atlantic Forest in all of the North Zone of Rio\u2026 so it has a very large ecological importance to be considered only an urban park.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jauregui<\/a><\/p>\n

This piece of legislation emerged in the context of the federal\u00a0Growth Acceleration Program (PAC)<\/a>, charged with infrastructure investments nationwide, but in Rio emphasizing investments in a handful of large favelas. Complementing his PAC designs (including the Complexo do Alem\u00e3o cable car system<\/a>), renowned Argentine architect Jorge Mario Jauregui<\/a> designed a plan for the municipal urban park and a series of urban-ecological corridors to better integrate green space into favela urban landscapes. Yet, Jauregui\u2019s eco-plans were abandoned: the State Company for Public Construction (EMOP) claimed that other PAC interventions took priority.<\/p>\n

From Verdejar\u2019s perspective concerned with environmental conservation, categorizing the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia as a Municipal Urban Park under the 2010 decree was not ideal. However, the legislation proposed promising new recreational and educational opportunities.<\/p>\n

However, the project lacked funding. So, Edson describes,\u00a0Verdejar organized “a\u00a0series of actions\u00a0until the Minister of the Environment released R$11 million (US$5.5 million) to the City through the Socio-Environmental Fund of [the federal public bank] Caixa [Econ\u00f4mica]. The City\u00a0was going to offer R$4 million (US$2 million) more exclusively to build\u00a0the park.”<\/p>\n

The project, designed by Darsa Architecture and launched as a pioneer initiative of Morar Carioca Verde<\/a><\/em>\u2014a sustainability-focused branch of the now-dismantled<\/a> favela upgrading program Morar Carioca<\/a>\u2014planned to create six social activity centers including sports courts, a bike path, hiking trails, recreational facilities, and environmental education programs.<\/p>\n

The funds<\/a>\u00a0for the park\u2019s construction were secured during the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development<\/a> in 2012. Edson describes: \u201cThe City had no more excuses. There\u2019s the law, there\u2019s the project, there\u2019s the money, there\u2019s an organized populace, and so, what\u2019s the excuse? There wasn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n

But rather than beginning construction of Leopoldina Park, the City\u2019s first action after funding was secured was to evict residents in Lagoinha\u2014an\u00a0area of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o in critical need of public investment in infrastructure.\u00a0Verdejar questioned<\/a>, \u201cWhat park is this, where instead of guaranteeing the preservation of the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia, it came to oppress people who were already being oppressed, who were already vulnerable?\u201d In response to the nontransparent decision-making process to remove families from Lagoinha,\u00a0Verdejar and other civil society actors pleaded to create a\u00a0management advisory board for the APARU Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia. City authorities were unreceptive and no such context for public dialogue manifested.<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a> dated March 28,\u00a0<\/span>2014, Mayor Eduardo Paes and Municipal Secretary of Housing Pierre Batista wrote to Caixa’s regional superintendent Tarcisio Luiz Dalvi stating\u00a0that Leopoldina Park would\u00a0not be built,\u00a0justifying the unfulfilled promise\u00a0of six recreational centers with the creation of a lone bike park<\/a>.\u00a0The municipal urban park was planned\u00a0to occupy\u00a0240 hectares (nearly 600 acres); the bike park occupies one hectare (2.5 acres).<\/p>\n

So, fifteen years after gaining the designation as an Area of Environmental Protection and Urban Recuperation (APARU), nine years after legislation for the creation of a park first surfaced, five years after the executive project was designed, and three years after gaining public investment to implement the project, Verdejar wants to know: where is the Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia Municipal Park?<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to view and participate in\u00a0Verdejar’s campaign.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On December 16, 2010 Mayor Eduardo Paes signed Decree 33.280 to establish Leopoldina Municipal Urban Park in the\u00a0Serra da Miseric\u00f3rdia, located in the North Zone of Rio. In 2012, the project […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":23726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1668,1288,1290,1271,1503,335,329,452,1329],"tags":[9,548,1685,150,776,756,32,272,474,11,205,188,354,485,288,673,147,37,5,1616,243,471,239,365],"writer":[1695],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-civilsociety","10":"category-favelaqualities","11":"category-opportunities-to-support-favelas","12":"category-policies","13":"category-solutions","14":"category-rio20","15":"category-by-international-observers","16":"tag-9","17":"tag-ap3","18":"tag-bike-path","19":"tag-cable-car","20":"tag-cesar-maia","21":"tag-community-organizing","22":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","23":"tag-mayor-eduardo-paes","24":"tag-environment","25":"tag-forced-evictions","26":"tag-growth-acceleration-program-pac","27":"tag-history","28":"tag-law","29":"tag-light-electricity","30":"tag-mata-atlantica","31":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","32":"tag-morar-carioca","33":"tag-north-zone","34":"tag-olympics","35":"tag-reference","36":"tag-serra-da-misericordia","37":"tag-sustainability","38":"tag-verdejar","39":"tag-zero-participation","40":"writer-ava-rose-hoffman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=23581"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=23581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}