Minas Gerais launches $1 billion Rio Doce basin restoration program
The Government of Minas Gerais announced in June a set of environmental actions under the New Rio Doce Repair Agreement, signed in October 2024 after the 2015 Fundão dam disaster. The initiative, budgeted at about R$ 1 billion, targets the Rio Doce basin’s 200 municipalities and includes the Rio Doce Mais Vida program, described by IEF ecosystem‑recovery director Marina Fernandes Dias as “an integrated public policy that combines environmental regularisation, water and soil conservation, ecological restoration and economic incentives for long‑term preservation.”
The plan aims to restore 12 000 hectares over 20 years—9 000 ha on private rural lands (including permanent preservation areas and legal reserves) and 3 000 ha in state conservation units. Actions involve planting native seedlings, assisted natural regeneration, erosion‑control structures (contour bunds, terraces), soil‑and‑water conservation techniques, and the creation of two forest‑school nurseries in Governador Valadares and Ubá. A payment‑for‑ecosystem‑services scheme will remunerate landowners who protect native vegetation, while mobile technical desks will assist farmers with environmental regularisation and Rural Environmental Registry updates.
Implementation will be organised into two operational poles: Aimorés (123 municipalities) with a public tender scheduled for June 2026 and activities starting in November 2026; and Mariana (77 municipalities) with a tender in October 2026 and work beginning in April 2027.