On 30 November, the communities of Cachoeira and Taquaruçu, in the municipality of Ribeirão do Largo in the Brazilian state of Bahia, hosted the 2nd Water Mission, an initiative involving communities, parishes and the Rio Pardo Vivo e Corrente Articulation, with the aim of raising awareness among the population of the need to preserve and defend the springs and water bodies that supply the region.

The activity began in the morning on the banks of the waterfall that gives the municipality its name, where people reflected on the context of increasing environmental degradation and the need for grassroots organisation to guarantee the defence of water resources. Under the motto “Land and water: gifts of life in the countryside and in the city”, the space was marked by speeches about joining forces to protect essential resources from the predatory practices of the current development model, such as deforestation, inappropriate land use and contamination by pesticides.

Find out more about the mission and see the coverage here (Brazilian Portuguese)