ABSTRACT
The chapter presents new policy instruments in the water and land sectors in Brazil as future modes of strong sustainable development in regions like the world’s tropics region. At the same time, it illustrates the sustainability transition and the evolution of the management paradigms in the water and land sectors since the 1980s. The instruments presented cover the areas of integrated watershed management, source-water protection, natural infrastructure projects and the payment ecosystem services. The chapter first summarises recent literature on environmental politics in Brazil and shows the historic evolution in ideology and issues. Later, it explains new policies and initiatives for the protection and sustainable use of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and introduces recent payment for ecosystems services (PES) funding programmes. The chapter offers examples from the Paraíba do Sul river basin, which can qualify as best practices of multi-stakeholder, cooperative projects to restore landscape and enhance ecosystem projects. Finally, it discusses the challenges to a broad implementation of nature-based solutions such as the dissemination of knowledge, the empowerment of communities and the need for market-based solutions as well as stringent protection regulations.
