Sustainability of a sanitation program in flooded areas of the Brazilian Amazon

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Cecilia Rosinski Lima Gomes ◽  
Edila Arnaud Ferreira Moura ◽  
João Paulo Borges Pedro ◽  
Maria Mercês Bezerra ◽  
Otacílio Soares Brito
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Human Waste ◽  
Flooded Forests ◽  
Experimental Project ◽  
Seasonally Flooded ◽  
Flooded Areas

Riverine populations that dwell in flooded forests (várzea) require suitable solutions for sanitation. An experimental project was started in 1998, using double-vault toilets in seasonally flooded houses in the Brazilian Amazon. The objective was to improve the health of inhabitants using adequate sanitation technology and health education. The focus of the present study was the assessment of that intervention. We compiled information from reports, local assessments, and interviews with users. In 2012, 14 years after the beginning of the project, 44% of the double-vault toilets were still in use. The main benefits noticed were awareness of the importance of toilets for reducing outdoor human waste and providing comfort, privacy, and safety for families. The sanitation project succeeded in reducing open defecation and raised the interest and demand for toilets. However, there is still a need for improving the construction of toilets and to better adapt them to flooded environments. We also include suggestions for improving the toilets and their use in flooded areas.

scholarly journals Assessing Students’ Knowledge on WASH-Related Diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 2052 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaldoon A. Mourad ◽  
Vincent Habumugisha ◽  
Bolaji F. Sule
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Health Education ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Open Defecation ◽  
Human Faeces ◽  
Human Waste ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene

Water-, sanitation-, and hygiene-related diseases are killing many people each year in developing countries, including Rwanda, and children under the age of five are the most vulnerable. This research assessed human waste disposal practices, knowledge on diseases caused by contact with human faeces, and knowledge on causes and prevention of selected WASH-related diseases. One thousand one hundred and seventy-three students were interviewed out of 2900 students. The results showed, regarding students’ waste disposal practices, that 96.3% use latrines, 20.5% practice open defecation in bushes, and 3.2% defecate in water bodies. Regarding knowledge on diseases caused by contact with human faeces, 56.9% responded that they were aware of cholera, 26.5% of diarrhoea, 2.2% of dysentery, 0.3% of malaria, 0.1% of shigellosis, and 3.8% of typhoid. The majority of the respondents, between 50–99%, could not identify the main causes of the WASH-related diseases. This paper also showed that students lack health knowledge in regard to WASH-related diseases’ causes and prevention. Therefore, the provision of water and sanitation infrastructures should go with the provision of health education on how to avoid these diseases and possible ways to improve the well-being of the students both at home and in their various schools.

scholarly journals Structure and Composition of Terra Firme and Seasonally Flooded Várzea Forests in the Western Brazilian Amazon

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1361
Author(s):  
Yennie K. Bredin ◽  
Joseph E. Hawes ◽  
Carlos A. Peres ◽  
Torbjørn Haugaasen
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Woody Plant ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Floodplain Forests ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Terra Firme ◽  
Flooded Forests ◽  
Terra Firme Forest ◽  
Seasonally Flooded

Research Highlights: Rare, or sparsely distributed, species drive the floristic diversity of upland, terra firme and seasonally flooded forests in the central Juruá—a remote and hitherto floristically poorly known area in the Brazilian Amazon. Background and Objectives: Floristic inventories are critical for modelling and understanding the role of Amazonian forests in climate regulation, for sustainable management of forest resources and efficient conservation planning. Yet, detailed information about the often complex spatial distributions of many Amazonian woody plants is limited. Here, we provide information about forest structure and species composition from a remote terra firme forest and an adjacent floodplain forest in the western Brazilian Amazon. More specifically, we ask (1) how floristically different are the terra firme and floodplain forests? and (2) how variable is species composition within the same forest type? Materials and Methods: Between September 2016 and October 2017, we inventoried 97 plots (each 0.1 ha; 100 × 10 m) placed at least 800 m apart, with 46 plots in terra firme forest and 51 in seasonally flooded forest. We included all trees, hemi-epiphytes and palms with diameter at breast height (dbh) > 10 cm and woody lianas > 5 cm dbh. We examine forest structure, family- and species-level floristic composition and species diversity within and between forest types using family and species importance values, rarefaction curves and dissimilarity matrices. Results: Terra firme forest and seasonally flooded forest woody plant communities differ both in structure and species composition, which was highly variable within forest types. Many species were shared between terra firme and seasonally flooded forests, but most species were forest type-specific. Whereas species richness was greatest in the terra firme forest, floodplain species richness was among the highest regionally. Conclusions: Floodplain forests are a crucial complement to terra firme forests in terms of Amazonian woody plant diversity.

Ancient Settlement, Urban Gardening, and Environment in the Gulf Lowlands of Mexico

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Stark ◽  
Alanna Ossa
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Water Table ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Urban Settlement ◽  
Settlement Density ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Agrarian Societies ◽  
Seasonally Flooded ◽  
Flooded Areas

Urban settlement in the western lower Papaloapan River basin in the Gulf lowlands was dispersed and likely employed intensive gardening near domiciles. Land surrounding homes also may have played a symbolic role in these agrarian societies. Water works—formal ponds associated with temple platforms and other prominent structures as well as with many residential mounds—support the idea of symbolic as well as practical functions in land use around buildings. Dispersed occupation occurs in low elevations suited to recessional planting, a technique that takes advantage of dry season ground moisture in low areas where rain and flood waters recede as the water table drops. We analyze elevational zones to show greater settlement density in the low-lying Blanco River delta than in higher elevations upriver. Analysis of distances between archaeological residences and wetlands and drainages shows that residences generally were close to seasonally flooded areas. We also highlight anthropogenic qualities in the alluvial landscape, offering a land use perspective distinct from other views of agricultural intensification. The settlement pattern is compatible with Mesoamerican forms of urbanism.

Tracking short-term seasonally flooded areas to understand the dynamics of the Coatzacoalcos River in Veracruz, Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra A. López-Caloca ◽  
Juan C. Valdiviezo-Navarro ◽  
Felipe O. Tapia-Silva
Keyword(s):  
Short Term ◽  
Seasonally Flooded ◽  
Flooded Areas

scholarly journals Soils in seasonally flooded forests as methane sources: A case study of West Siberian South taiga

2018 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 012012
Author(s):  
S Yu Mochenov ◽  
A I Churkina ◽  
S F Sabrekov ◽  
M V Glagolev ◽  
D V Il’yasov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flooded Forests ◽  
Seasonally Flooded

Changes in the Composition of the Danube River Basin Biocenosis Resulting from Anthropogenic Influences

1990 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 13-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlasta Pujin
Keyword(s):  
Animal Species ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Anthropogenic Influences ◽  
Waste Waters ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Flooded Forests ◽  
Anthropogenic Processes ◽  
Large Water ◽  
Flooded Areas

In the last several decades, anthropogenic processes have brought about a number of changes in the ecosystem of the river Danube. Various hydroengineering schemes have decreased the flooded areas and flooded forests typical of the Danubian basin. Industrial and community waste waters of the centers along the river have loaded it with various organic and inorganic wastes. All this affected the composition of certain members of biocenoses. A number of plant and animal species disappeared from this ecosystem, while some new species have been introduced. Organic production in some sections multiplied, this pointing to the eutrophication process. Due to the large water body, selfpurification process has so far eliminated the load. However, the changes ocurring already provide a warning and are calling for protection measures.

scholarly journals The Piedra Chamana fossil woods (Eocene, Peru), II

IAWA Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 551-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.W. Woodcock ◽  
H.W. Meyer ◽  
Y. Prado
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
South American ◽  
Lowland Tropical Forest ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Freshwater Swamp ◽  
Flooded Forests ◽  
Fossil Forest ◽  
Seasonally Flooded

ABSTRACTThis contribution presents descriptions of 14 fossil woods from the Piedra Chamana Fossil Forest in Peru, an assemblage of fossil woods and leaves dated at 39 Ma (late Middle Eocene). It is part two of the descriptions of the non-monocot angiosperm fossils from the site (see Woodcock et al. 2017). The woods are assigned to the subfamilies Bombacoideae, Bombacoideae/Malvoideae, Byttneroideae, Grewioideae, and Sterculioideae of Malvaceae and the families Melastomataceae, Muntingiaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, and Sapindaceae. Malvalean taxa make up around one-third of the wood types. Many of the woods are identifiable to modern-day genera or groups, including genera with species counted among the hyperdominant trees of the New World forests. Represented vegetation types include mixed freshwater swamp with Avicennia, seasonally flooded forest, and lowland tropical forest with a dry aspect. The assemblage shows floristic similarities to extant South American lowland tropical forest, particularly the seasonally flooded forests growing along white water rivers (várzea); however, the dry forest association has a less clear analog in the present-day tropics.

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