World Water Day: Global water crisis reinforces the importance of springs and forests.

O World Water Day, World Water Day, celebrated on March 22nd, arrives in 2026 under an unprecedented warning. According to a report published in January by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), humanity has officially entered the “era of global water bankruptcy.” The term “global bankruptcy” describes the imbalance between rampant consumption and the inability of natural systems to regenerate. According to the study, many regions are living beyond their water capacities and many others are already failing, and it points to the restoration of ecosystems as central to the survival strategy of cities.

Crisis has arrived.

The crisis is not limited to the lack of rain, but also to the degradation of the "green infrastructure" that sustains the rivers. Copaiba Environmental Association, The institution, which has been working for 26 years on the restoration of the Atlantic Forest, warns that the lack of efficient public management and climate change are depleting underground reserves and drying up sources that were once considered perennial. "Today we are seeing landowners installing taps on their properties." sources to avoid wasting water. "Today, we are already seeing owners installing taps on their own springs to try to control water use. We are talking about springs that have always been abundant and are now drying up," said Ana Paula Balderi, coordinator of the team. restoration of Copaiba.

Restoration is key.

In this scenario, ecological restoration becomes a measure of water security. According to Ana Paula, preserved forests act like sponges, facilitating the infiltration of rainwater into the soil, recharging aquifers and ensuring that springs continue to flow even during periods of drought.”

THE Copaiba The organization works on the restoration of the Atlantic Forest, focusing on the basins of the Peixe and Camanducaia Rivers, in 19 cities in eastern São Paulo and southern Minas Gerais, and presents significant figures such as more than 4.5 million native seedlings produced, more than 900 hectares of forests in the process of restoration, more than 1.2 million tree seedlings planted, 63 km of river and stream banks recovered, and 490 springs protected. “This work we are carrying out reconnects strategic forest fragments for the protection of hydrographic basins and is fundamental for water security. However, given the current scenario, it is urgent to expand the scale and results of these actions,” says Ana Paula Balderi, who currently works with more than 350 rural landowners.

A Call to Action

The celebration of World Water Day This year is an opportunity to broaden collective awareness of everyone's responsibility in this process. To prevent the "global water crisis" from becoming irreversible, the Copaiba It states that it is necessary for public policies, rural landowners, and civil society to prioritize the conservation of forests and riparian vegetation. Citizens must demand that the government carry out more restoration actions, approve legislation that protects recharge areas, riverbanks, and springs, but they also need to examine their own actions and show greater respect for permanent protection areas, rivers, and the environment. 

“The moment demands expanding ecological restoration on a large scale, protecting and recovering what remains of our natural assets. Investing in forest restoration is essential to ensure that the human right to water continues to be guaranteed for future generations,” concluded Ana Paula.

Copaiba

THE Copaiba Environmental Association It is a non-profit civil society organization based in the municipality of Socorro (SP), which has been working since 1999 with the mission of conserving and restoring the Atlantic Forest in the basins of the Peixe and Camanducaia rivers. Present in 19 municipalities in this region, the Copaiba It develops integrated actions in the areas of ecological restoration, native seedling production, environmental education, and public policies, promoting the reconnection of people with nature and contributing to the protection of natural resources, especially water and biodiversity.

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