Dear Mayor

Lagoon Forever Movement

(Movimento Lagoa para Sempre)

To the Mayor of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil:

Mr. Rodrigo Neves,

The Lagoon Forever Movement (“Movimento Lagoa para Sempre”) presents in this blog the technical and legal arguments to assist your act of issuing a Decree that will demarcate the following Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) around the Lagoon of Itaipu: (a) the riparian area/vegetation around the Itaipu Lagoon itself, (b) the adjacent Camboinhas beach front (known as Maritime Front or “Frente Marítima”) located next to the Itaipu channel that connects the lagoon to the beach, and (c) the Great Dune of Itaipu (knows as “Duna Grande”, which by the way is the national symbol of Brazilian archeology).

With this decree, you will end a fight that has been going on for 40 years since the environmentalist Marcelo de Ipanema filed a public civil action against the real state company named VEPLAN.

This is a unique opportunity to differentiate yourself from all other Mayors and to minimize the serious environmental impacts and socioeconomic losses caused by the Itaipu Structuring Plan (known as “Plano Estrutural de Itaipu”), dating back to 1979. Stop such destruction!

We remind you that when you held the office of state deputy, you co-signed State Law Project No. 2.430/2009 with the deputies Marcelo Freixo and Luiz Paulo, a project which aimed to protect the environment of the Itaipu lagoon, the Maritime Front and the Duna Grande. Unfortunately, this law project did not pass yet due to lobby and pressure from the real state sector.

We remind you that on September 21, 2016, you publicly committed yourself to delimit the Permanent Preservation Areas of the Itaipu Lagoon riparian area, the Maritime Front and the Duna Grande (Green Letter signed at the Jambeiro Restaurant in 2016 during your campaign for mayor).

We remind you that the Serra da Tiririca State Park (“PESET” from now on), which includes the lagoon riparian area, attracts more than 350 thousand visitors a year, who spend money on the bus, taxi, Uber, gas station, kiosk, restaurant, bakery, hostel and guides of the Niteroi Ocean Region.

The PESET can generate thousands of jobs, much more than a bunch of buildings whose jobs are poorly paid. The creation of these thousands of jobs will be one of the results one you put an end in this legal war that prevents the Park from receiving public and private investments to support its implementation.

We would like to remind you that much of the proposed area to be protected by your future Decree is formed by public lands, where there is no indemnity. All it takes is the Municipal Attorney's Office to pull out of inertia and conduct an extensive land survey.

We would also like to remind you that the Municipal Council of Environment (COMAN) approved the limits of the APPs proposed by the Municipal Secretary of Environment, state president of the Green Party. Any damage to the Park will be charged to this party at the national level and all candidates will bear the burden of the measure. Same as to the “Rede Sustentabilidade”, whose representative in the City Hall pretended to be dead. Marina Silva will be communicated of the attitude.

We would also remind you that removing from the Park the areas around the lagoon will cause an international embarrassment for Niterói, because in 1992 the park and its surroundings were declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve of the Atlantic Forest, gaining global recognition. If those areas happens, the Lagoa Forever Movement (Lagoa Para Sempre) will notify UNESCO.

Lastly, we remind you that the Park was created by Governor Leonel Brizola, leader of your party, the PDT, constituting a concrete environmental legacy of high relevance.

Mayor, going against the Park will be a stain on your resume. The people of Niterói and the Lagoa Forever Movement will never forget. The Lagoa Forever Movement will not give up for a minute. We are prepared to fight another 15 years if need be.

Mayor, on behalf of current and future generations, sign the Decree, enter into history and come to celebrate with us !!!

REAL ESTATE DESIGNED TO BE BUILT ON THE PARK LAND