Cooperation Network of Cantareira

Conceived by the Institute of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs - IDEAS in 2007
RECANTA - Cooperation Network of Cantareira seeks to gain influence on political, communal and institutional levels, and is continuously gaining recognition in civil society and local governments.

HISTORY RECANTA

Already in 2007, IDEAS entered in cooperation with the president and employees of SABESP
(Company that provides the drinking water in São Paulo) organizing frequent meetings with NGOs connected to the Cantareira as well as associations of inhabitants of the many communities around the Cantareira that suffer from lack of basic sanitation and water management caused by occupation of sensitive areas such as riverbanks, resulting in sever health hazards the local population. For this reason the participation of the engineers from SABESP (Management Counsel RECANTA) is instrumental in the solution of the problems of these communities.
In 2009, the SABESP association gave RECANTA exclusive rights to use an historic neighborhood inside the SABESP Cantareira Country Club upon becoming a member of the Managing Counsel of the RECANTA network.
In cooperation with the Forest Foundation (Fundação Florestal) and the Managing Authorities of the Cantareira State Park, RECANTA participated in the elaboration of the Management Plan of 2008 -2009 of the Cantareira State Park.
In 2008 RECANTA gained financial support from the Environmental Secretariat of São Paulo
(Secretaria do Verde e Meio Ambiente de São Paulo) through the Special Environmental Trust (Fundo Especial de Meio Ambiente).

This made possible the regional expansion of the RECANTA network to districts of great environmental vulnerability such as Brasilândia, Santana, Tucuruvi and Tremembé through the implementation of the Youth of the Forest Program consisting of 30 intelligent networking points through local educational institutions.

Currently active in 12 environmentally sensitive neighborhoods around the Cantareira, and rapidly expanding, the network that encircles the largest urban forest in the world has show capacity to diagnose and call attention to activities that threaten social and environmental safety, making possible a growing influence and participation in the formulation and implementation of public policies aiming for greater consideration to be taken to environmental aspects.