Ambev, in partnership with TNC, The Nature Conservancy – the largest environmental organization in the world, CEBDS (Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development), CEDAE (State Water and Sewage Company) and support from the Queimados Environmental Secretariat, launches the Guandu phase of the Basins Project in a ceremony on July 5th at APA Guandu, in Queimados.

The Guandu Basins Project aims to strengthen and scale up forest conservation and recovery projects and payments for environmental services in critical areas of the Guandu River Basin, with the aim of reducing the exposure of basin users to water risks. As an important partner in the Project, CEBDS will seek to involve other associated companies in this major collective action to contribute to the sustainable and lasting management of the Guandu Hydrographic Region, in Rio de Janeiro.

On the date, partners, volunteers, students from the Queimados municipal education network and enthusiasts will plant 2,000 seedlings of Atlantic Forest species, provided by the CEDAE Replantando Vida Program, in an environmental preservation area on the banks of the Guandu River.

The event is part of Ambev's public commitment to achieve eight environmental goals by 2017, one of which is to create initiatives to protect watersheds. This edition of the Guandu Watershed Project joins others already underway in the cities of Jaguariúna (SP), Jundiaí (SP) and Sete Lagoas (MG). In addition, the company recently became the main supporter of the Cities for Water Coalition, an initiative coordinated by TNC, which aims to increase water security for more than 60 million Brazilians in 12 metropolitan regions, including Rio de Janeiro.

“We believe that working in a network is the best way to make the world a better place. As we know, water preservation is a major challenge and therefore requires a collaborative solution. Only by working together, uniting partners committed to this cause like us, will we be able to achieve increasingly greater results and with the urgency that the issue demands. Guandu is just one of the many steps the company has taken in this regard,” says Simone Veltri, Ambev’s socio-environmental relations manager.

Ambev, the project's largest sponsor, has an internal effort to use water efficiently, making it a global leader in the use of water for beverage production. Over the past twelve years, Ambev breweries have adopted practices that have reduced water consumption by more than 40%, reaching an average rate of 3.17 liters of water to produce one liter of beverage. Learn More!