CBA is present at the 10th Gastronomia na Serra [Gastronomy in the Highlands] Event

01The Gastronomia na Serra Festival is one of the most important events in the Muriaé cultural calendar, and was held for the tenth time this year. It took place on June 2 through 5 in the Pirapanema district of Muriaé, a city in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) is a traditional Festival sponsor, and this year sponsored an interactive initiative for children focusing on sustainability and the environment. The Pirapanema community and festival goers were able to visit the CBA stand to learn about its socio-environmental activities and enjoy a cup of delicious coffee grown in formerly mined areas that have been environmentally rehabilitated. On Sunday morning, the company’s Environmental Education Program performed a dynamic activity with children using organic paints, and explaining to the children how colors can be extracted from different plant parts to create fun drawings – a sustainable play activity. Christian Fonseca de Andrade, the manager of the CBA mining units in the “Zona da Mata” region in Minas Gerais, believes the Gastronomia na Serra [Gastronomy in the Highlands] event has been a driver of development for the Pirapanema district. “We are proud to have emerged in an environment sponsored by CBA in the region, sponsoring the development of the “Zona da Mata” in Minas Gerais. From its very first year, CBA has used the Festival as a channel to share knowledge about the type of sustainable mining CBA is involved in in the region. We share a bit our operation with actions such as the Environmental Education Program at the CBA stand and in workshops during the event”, he added.   Environmental Projects One of the important CBA partnerships is with the Federal University in Viçosa (UFV). Since 2008 we have performed studies in Environmental (Soil) Rehabilitation, Forest Restoration, and Water Conservation (Forest Hydrology).   CBA works ceaselessly with UFV scientists, contributing technical and human expertise for continuous technological development of its environmental processes, using natural resources on behalf of the environment and the populations of those areas where CBA activities are located.   Supporting Gastronomy in the Highlands CBA has supported the festival from the onset. The Gastronomy in the Highlands is a project conceived by the Pirapanema community to support sustainable development as part of the Ecos da Mata [Echoes of the Forest] Program, which CBA organized between 2011 and 2013, involving the formal and informal leaders of nine cities and towns in the region: Cataguases, Descoberto, Fervedouro, Itamarati de Minas, Miradouro, Miraí, Muriaé, Rosário da Limeira, and São Sebastião da Vargem Alegre. Ecos da Mata [Echoes of the Forest] was created to help improve the economic and environmental dynamics of the Zona da Mata in Minas Gerais, by engaging and involving members of the government, private entities, and NGOs.