Case study:ReNaturalize

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Location: 20° 10' 45.39" S, 40° 30' 6.67" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Environmental flows and water resources, Fisheries, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Monitoring, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	Brazil
Main contact forename	Carolina
Main contact surname	Pinto
Main contact user ID	User:Carolfp10
Contact organisation	Aplysia
Contact organisation web site	http://www.aplysia.com.br/site/en/
Partner organisations	FAPES, FINEP, CESAN, MCTI
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Project ReNaturalize River Mangaraí ES Brazil

Project summary

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The project ReNaturalize consisted on the installation of large wood (LW) in the River Mangaraí, ES-Brazil. It is an innovative initiative from Aplysia Environmental Solutions. In this project British techniques of river restoration were used where tree trunks are installed on the riverbed as a form of river restoration. The aim was to restore natural river processes that can support healthier and more biodiverse aquatic environments. In other words, the project aims to restore the natural function of the river, that happens when riparian vegetation grows wirth trees and branches falling naturally in the river, creating healthier environments in a sustainable manner. We also seek the integration with local communities. To integrate the community's goals with the project objectives aligning interests.

The installations included techniques listed below: - 'D' structures; - Flexible anchoring large wood; - Rigid anchoring; - 'Staking'; - Dragon's Tooth;

Monitoring surveys and results

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The water quality results showed that, in general, the Mangaraí River is affected by deteriorated water quality when it comes to nutrients (total phosphorus), especially during the dry season (April-September). The low quality is also indicated by the low levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) found in both the ReNaturalize and Reference sections. The second major finding was that despite the low DO content in one of the campaigns, the ReNaturalize stretch demonstrated higher DO. The research also showed that for the water turbidity analyzed ever 15 days there were no significant differences between the three reaches sampled. For the quality of the sediments collected during the seven campaigns, results suggested that the ReNaturalize stretch presented higher retention of nutrients and organic matter. However, there was no significant difference in the results of organic matter, nitrogen and total phosphorus. The grain size analysis showed a trend towards the composition of thinner material in the ReNaturalize reach and greater diversification of the local sediemnt profile. This could be confirmed by the hydromorfological assessments through riverbed mapping that showed the significant increase of the heterogeneity of the riverbed after the installation of LW. The quarterly data of the abundance of ichthyofauna monitored in the restored section point to the success of the technique with regard to the improvement of the fish populations (increased abundance aprox. 80%) in the restored reach.

Lessons learnt

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The aim of the project Renaturalize was to evaluate if techniques of river restoration widely used in the United Kingdom were effective in the River Mangaraí located in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The ReNaturalize project was developed to apply and evaluate effectiveness of the use of logs and wood branches within the river channel in a tropical environment. The evaluation of the efficacy of the British method in a tropical environment was based on assessments of water quality, sediment and aquatic biota, as well as achievements of work with the local community. - In general, installed wood structures had good durability. The anchoring techniques that best fit the hydrodynamics of the River Mangaraí were the "rigid" type with anchorage at the margin. "D" structures have shown rapid benefits for insect colonization and habitat creation for fish, but they had a short life. To play the role of sediment retention and habitat creation, so-called 'dragon tooth' structures have proven to be more effective. The flexible structures served as a shelter for fish and are more durable. The trunks anchored to the margins presented an excellent function of sediment retention and increased riverbed heterogeneity and differential flow creation. - Fixed Point photographs are a very useful tool to present the results of the Renaturalize project. We suggest that in future projects these photographs be made in panoramic mode to perfect the technique. - Although this project focused on environmental quality parameters, the results of the ReNaturalize project have shown that the integration, environmental education and income generation provided to the local community generated socio-environmental benefits. This provides gains for both biodiversity and the surrounding community. From the implementation of the project, it was understood that local communities had a misconception about the presence of wood logs within rivers. Although environmental education activities were not foreseen within this project, their development was extremely important for the local community to change this conception. In addition, the training of the work team sought to develop notions of management of LW in rivers.

Image gallery

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Installation of flexible structure

Faggot bundles

D structure

Steel cable anchor

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district East- Atlantic River basin Santa Maria da Vitória Subcatchment River name Mangaraí Area category 100 - 1000 km² Area (km2) 174174 km² <br />17,400 ha <br /> Maximum altitude category 500 - 1000 m Maximum altitude (m) Dominant geology Ecoregion Dominant land cover Woodland, Rough unimproved grassland/pasture, Plantation forestry, Irrigated land Waterbody ID Site Edit site Name WFD water body codes WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Pre-project morphology Single channel, Over-widened, shallow Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present Yes Species of interest Dominant hydrology Groundwater Dominant substrate Sand River corridor land use Broadleaf/mixed woodland (semi natural), Rough unimproved grassland/pasture Average bankfull channel width category 10 - 50 m Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Less than 0.5 m Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category 1 - 10 m³/s Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) 2 2 W/m² <br /> Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) 200200 m <br />0.2 km <br />20,000 cm <br /> Project started 2014/11/20 Works started Works completed Project completed Total cost category 100 - 500 k€ Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources FINEP, FAPES, MCTI Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design 1 - 10 k€ Aplysia, CESAN, AGERH Carolina Pinto Stakeholder engagement and communication 1 - 10 k€ Works and works supervision 10 - 50 k€ Aplysia Carolina Pinto Post-project management and maintenance 1 - 10 k€ Carolina Pinto Monitoring 10 - 50 k€ Aplysia Carolina Pinto Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Riparian development, Drinking water storage and supply Hydromorphology Silting, In-stream Habitat Heterogeneity Biology Biodiversity loss Physico-chemical Suspended Solids, Turbidity Other reasons for the project High levels of suspended sediment Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Introducing large woody debris Floodplain / River corridor Introducing large woody debris Planform / Channel pattern Introducing large woody debris Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) Community Education, Engagement with schools Other Exit Plan Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Substrate conditions Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Flow velocities No Yes No Yes Yes Improvement Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Fish: Abundance Yes Yes No Yes Yes Improvement Fish: Species composition Yes Yes No Yes Yes Inconclusive Invertebrates: Abundance Yes Yes No Yes Yes Inconclusive Invertebrates: Taxonomic composition Yes Yes No Yes Yes Improvement Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Oxygen balance Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Nutrient concentrations Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Inconclusive PH Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Inconclusive Temperature Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Inconclusive Transparency Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Inconclusive Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Channel bed morphology. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Habitat mapping Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Substrate particle size/composition. Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Improvement Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E61NqM1Ew-4 Video ReNaturalize Portuguese http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoN0ra4VwPo Video ReNaturalize English Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information