Congratulations to our Paracatu site, which won a prestigious environmental conservation award in Brazil for its Spring Protection Project to rehabilitate water springs near the Paracatu river basin.
The project won the ‘Best Example of Water, Air, Flora and Fauna’ category at the Hugo Werneck Award ceremony at the end of March in Belo Horizonte. The award was created in 2010 by Green Magazine, a respected Brazilian publication about sustainability and the environment.
To date, the project has restored 150 springs in 73 farms, totaling 890 hectares. Paracatu expects to protect another 30 springs this year. The site has also built 60 km of fencing around the sources to deter animals from trampling on the delicate soil while the water springs are being restored.
Alessandro Nepomuceno, Director of Sustainability, Paracatu, accepted the trophy on behalf of the site: “The project has been an ongoing collaboration between Kinross, local farmers and the community for the last seven years. We are really proud to play a role in restoring water springs in Paracatu. Areas that were previously drying up are now consistent water sources, even during the dry season. This significantly helps farmers with their crops.”
The water conservation project has been running since 2009 in partnership with the non-profit organization Green Movement, the Minas Gerais State Forestry Institute and local landowners.
From left to right: Alessandro Nepomuceno, Director of Sustainability, Paracatu, Antônio Vieira, President of our partner organization, Green Movement, Walter Ferreira Gomes, partner and local farmer received the award from Alexandre of Green Magazine
