The Legado das Águas – Reserva Votorantim (Water Legacy – Votorantim Reserve) arose from the visionary thinking that forests would guarantee the protection of the springs that are the source of the Juquiá River (São Paulo/Brazil) and ensure water resources are available for the coming centuries.
An area covering 31 thousands hectares of the Legado das Águas (Water Legacy ) reserve forms a bigger territory than countries such as Aruba, San Marino and the Maldives or even a Brazilian city the size of Curitiba (Parana state). It is twice as big as the Tijuca Forest in Rio de Janeiro and five times larger than the Cantareira State Park in São Paulo. The reserve is the biggest privately-owned area of its kind in the Atlantic Rainforest biome. It is located within three municipalities in the Vale do Ribeira region — Juquiá, Miracatu and Tapiraí — in the south of São Paulo state and corresponds to 1.5% of the remaining Atlantic Rainforest in the state.
The forest area that creates the Legado reserve is run by the general sustainability management area of Votorantim S.A. under a new model for private protected areas. The activities created are bringing social, environmental and economic benefits.