{"id":29025,"date":"2016-05-28T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2016-05-28T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=29025"},"modified":"2016-06-01T09:26:36","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T12:26:36","slug":"olympics-environmental-legacy-and-the-destruction-of-vila-autodromos-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=29025","title":{"rendered":"The Fallen Trees of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo: Rio Topples Olympics Environmental Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\u201c<\/span>When you are fighting for your house, and your most basic needs–like safety and public health–trees are left behind. To talk\u00a0to the City about the trees… I left it for last.\u00a0But then I felt\u00a0bad about this. I should not feel bad protesting the[ir cutting the] trees. Trees should be the first [priority]… Without them, without oxygen we have nothing.\u201d –<\/span>\u00a0Delmo Oliveira, resident of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After over five long years fighting their Olympic\u00a0eviction<\/a>, the community of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, adjacent to the main Rio 2016 Olympic<\/a> facility in Barra de Tijuca<\/a> in Rio’s West Zone<\/a>, struggles to keep the little that remains of their community. Once a peaceful community of 700 families, just 20\u00a0remain and have negotiated with the City<\/a> to continue living on the land in newly built homes<\/a>. Residents continue to be concerned about the community’s\u00a0natural habitat, however, in particular the remaining trees, some which stood long before residents arrived in the community 40 years ago. According to Nat\u00e1lia Silva<\/a>, raised in\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, there were already a number of native trees in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo before residents arrived, including the protected species Pau Brasil, Brazil’s namesake.<\/p>\n

Today, like the human homes in the community, many of the remaining trees in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo have been marked to be chopped down. When residents asked why, they got uncertain responses from government representatives designated to mark them, saying they didn\u2019t know why.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

During the stages of the house demolitions in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> and the government’s negotiations with residents<\/a>, many were forced to leave and the boundaries of the community diminished. In the process, the community saw their number of trees reduce significantly. \u201cI can only give an estimate,\u201d said Nat\u00e1lia. \u201cI know there were definitely more than 500 trees… The government managed to get a license to cut down hundreds of trees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The importance of trees within communities<\/h3>\n

Trees are an essential part of the natural and human environment. They provide ecosystem services on a broad scale including water purification and atmospheric CO2 reduction, acting as a natural buffer against climate change. Trees also play an important role on a local level. Their roots\u00a0stabilize soil preventing landslides<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0act as a local climate control. The lack of trees contributes to a phenomenon known as heat islands<\/a><\/span>\u00a0which tend to occur in less serviced\u00a0urban areas<\/a>\u00a0where there are often<\/span>\u00a0fewer trees<\/a> than in affluent areas. Additionally, tree roots can be used for treating sewage<\/span>\u00a0in eco-friendly biosystems. Trees provide food for communities, and can play a role in religious ceremonies, such as the trees of Heloisa Helena\u2019s Candombl\u00e9 practice<\/a> in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Delmo\u00a0Oliveira has lived in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u00a0for 26 years and is an autodidact in plant biology and ecology. He actively sought to create a positive natural ecosystem for his community, but has now seen many of the 7,600 seedlings he planted with his son along\u00a0the boundaries of the community and neighboring regions torn down. They were planted to ensure residents had the comfort of walking to the bus stop in the shade. Taking close to three years to finish two streets full of trees for shade, Delmo said it was an easy process, one they did over time, collecting seeds, digging a hole and planting them. \u201cOn the weekends as an incentive we would work before going to the waterfalls,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Delmo affirms the basic necessity of trees for life:\u00a0\u201cYou cannot stay alive without oxygen. So we need to\u00a0be concerned about trees. How will a new generation be created without the existence of trees? Oxygen is the most important thing, without it you don\u2019t have anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Delmo emphasizes that Vila Aut\u00f3dromo has plenty of life and trees but the government is \u201cwasting and burning and tearing down\u201d the trees and in turn, destroying their resources.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Delmo<\/a><\/h3>\n

Olympic legacy promise to plant 24 million trees<\/h3>\n

One of the most notable promises of the Rio 2016 Olympics bid was to plant 24 million trees<\/a>, intended to offset the carbon emissions related to the Games. <\/span>In September 2014, State Environment Secretary Carlos Minc increased this number to\u00a034 million trees<\/a> <\/span>to be planted by the end of 2015 in addition to creating 5,000 jobs in the green agricultural sector and opening tree nurseries across the state. They established a tree counter, which in\u00a02014 indicated that 5 million trees had been planted, but the link <\/a><\/span>no longer exists. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Rio 2016 Sustainability Management Plan<\/a><\/span>\u00a0states that sustainability initiatives would be the main instrument for offsetting residual carbon emissions. The Plan<\/span>\u00a0includes projects in the Barra de Tijuca area such as \u201creforestation of degraded areas\u201d and \u201cecological and functional recovery of the Jacarepagu\u00e1 Lagoon system\u201d with \u201creforestation in the strip around the lagoon.\u201d There is\u00a0no mention of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s existence in the plan. Additionally, the document called for the use of native species for landscaping and the reforestation of degraded areas, using native species included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Plan lists specific initiatives such as the Rio Green Capital program, a continuation of an already existing program called the Mass Reforestation Initiative using subcontractors to plant Atlantic Forest<\/a> species on Rio hillsides and build capacity for future reforestation, including the construction of a new seedling nursery in Col\u00f4nia Juliano Moreira<\/a>. The project planned to reforest 1,600 hectares by 2016. In 2011, the Mass Reforestation Initiative had already planted 5,250,000 seedlings spanning 2,509 hectares, potentially the number accounted for in the now deleted\u00a0tree counting site.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Delmo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2015, the City announced<\/a> <\/span>that 24 million trees would not be planted and the Jacaparegu\u00e1 Lagoon would not be cleaned by the start of the Games, stating there would not be enough time to clean the lagoon. State Environment Secretary Carlos Minc said the promise made didn’t count as\u00a0\u201cthey did not have a trustworthy reference for the carbon footprint of the Games at the time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In March 2016<\/a>, the contracts for cleaning the Jacarepagu\u00e1 Basin including the lagoon and surrounding rivers were officially cancelled<\/span>, meaning that none of the environmental projects promised in the Olympic bid would be completed, including the\u00a0cleaning of the Guanabara Bay<\/a><\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Delmo remembers the environmental legacy promises for the\u00a0Pan-American Games<\/a> in 2007: \u201c[The government] did plant a whole avenue full of trees, but then what happens, a mega-event like the Olympics comes and they tear them all down.\u201d Most notably in the region, he says, were the trees torn down along Estrada dos Bandeirantes<\/a>, the most tree-populated road in Jacarepagu\u00e1, to widen the road for the Transcarioca\u00a0bus rapid transit (BRT)<\/a> route as part of the Olympic transport legacy<\/a>. \u201cThis ‘<\/span>progress’<\/span> is what destroys these [natural] things,\u201d adds Delmo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Environmental legacy in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo and beyond<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The government’s plan to upgrade Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a> includes several trees on the planned streets. <\/span>However residents\u00a0argue that\u00a0these trees are for aesthetics, not for the environment and species that inhabit the area. The green areas will be created\u00a0by landscapers, not\u00a0biologists or those familiar with the local environment. Delmo argues:\u00a0\u201cYou have to observe a region over many years to be able to successfully reforest\u00a0that area.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond Vila Aut\u00f3dromo some ongoing environmental initiatives inspired by the Games are moving forward. The World Land Trust in partnership with Guapia\u00e7u Ecological Reserve (REGUA)<\/a>\u00a0are currently fundraising for the acquisition of a land trust called the Olympic Forest Reserve<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0a parcel of Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro. <\/span><\/p>\n

Further, the municipal government’s\u00a0Resilient City Plan for 2017-2020<\/a>, created and published as part of the\u00a0Rockefeller Foundation Initiative 100 Resilient Cities<\/a>, outlines plans to plant\u00a0<\/span>50,000 trees in public squares largely in the North and West Zones, so “most of the population has access to a green area within 15 minutes of their home.” The Plan also describes a R$127 million initiative to reforest and protect the city’s Atlantic Forest. However whether these ambitious ideas\u00a0translate into action, or continue as merely\u00a0plans marketed to an international audience<\/a> remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However as Delmo insists, the issue is of basic necessity and urgency. He says: “You cannot forget the environment, oxygen and the values we have. Trees have to come before everything. It\u2019s so important. Now our climate is changing dramatically because of this lack of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas \u201cWhen you are fighting for your house, and your most basic needs–like safety and public health–trees are left behind. To talk\u00a0to the City about the trees… I left it for last.\u00a0But […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":29048,"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":[1293,1736,1288,335,452,1329],"tags":[225,606,609,11,473,569,327,1259,5,199,270,1402,471,81,1099,4,21],"writer":[1820,1807],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-1736","9":"category-highlight","10":"category-policies","11":"category-rio20","12":"category-by-international-observers","13":"tag-barra-da-tijuca","14":"tag-brt","15":"tag-colonia-juliano-moreira","16":"tag-forced-evictions","17":"tag-heat-island","18":"tag-jacarepagua","19":"tag-legacy-myth","20":"tag-mega-events","21":"tag-olympics","22":"tag-reforestation","23":"tag-resistance","24":"tag-legacy","25":"tag-sustainability","26":"tag-transcarioca","27":"tag-trees","28":"tag-vila-autodromo","29":"tag-west-zone","30":"writer-claire-lepercq","31":"writer-clare-huggins"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29025","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29025"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=29025"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=29025"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=29025"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=29025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}