As iniciativas de Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais com foco na água (PSA hídrico) estão se expandindo em toda a América Latina e no Brasil, sobretudo a partir da criação do Programa Produtor de Água, em 2006, pela Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA). Este estudo objetivou traçar o perfil da evolução dos PSAs hídricos no período de 2011 a 2014 no Brasil. As iniciativas de PSAs hídricos foram identificadas, classificadas e mapeadas quanto a seu estágio de atuação, com base em dados obtidos em páginas eletrônicas e entrevistas a organizações não governamentais e governamentais (federais, estaduais e municipais), relacionadas a essas iniciativas. O número de iniciativas de PSAs hídricos aumentou de 42, em 2011, para 52 em 2014. De modo geral, elas estão evoluindo em termos de estágio de atuação, mas muitas têm enfrentado dificuldades, principalmente pela descontinuidade da fonte de recursos para o pagamento. Concluiu-se que as informações sobre as iniciativas de PSA hídrico no Brasil, quando existentes, são difusas, e que elas estão evoluindo progressivamente no Brasil e se expandindo para outros biomas além da Mata Atlântica, mas ainda com diversas lacunas que precisam ser supridas.

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common joint disorder worldwide, is characterized by progressive degeneration of articular and periarticular structures, leading to physical and emotional impairments that greatly affect the quality of life of patients. Unfortunately, no therapy has been able to halt the progression of the disease. Owing to the complexity of OA, most animal models are only able to mimic a specific stage or feature of the human disorder. In this work, we demonstrate the intraarticular injection of kaolin or carrageenan leads to the progressive degeneration of the rat's knee joint, accompanied by mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia, gait impairments (reduced contact area of the affected limb), and radiological and histopathological findings concomitant with the development of human grade 4 OA. In addition, animals also display emotional impairments 4 weeks after induction, namely, anxious and depressive-like behaviour, important and common comorbidities of human OA patients. Overall, prolonging kaolin or carrageenan-induced monoarthritis mimics several important physical and psychological features of human OA in both male and female rodents and could be further applied in long-term studies of OA-associated chronic pain.

Recent efforts to achieve social, economic, and environmental goals related to sustainability emphasize the importance of nature-based solutions (NBS), as grey infrastructure alone is insufficient to address current challenges. The majority of frameworks proposed in the literature fail to address the full potential of NBS, neglecting long-term results, unintended consequences, co-benefits, and their contribution to achieving global environmental agreements, such as the Agenda 2030, especially for water management in a peri-urban context. Here we present an innovative framework that can be applied to both NBS project planning and evaluation for several water-based challenges, giving practitioners and researchers a tool not only to evaluate ongoing projects but also to guide new ones. The framework considers three main stages of a NBS project: (1) context assessment, (2) NBS implementation and adaptation process, and (3) NBS results. This tool has the potential to be used to evaluate whether NBS projects are aligned with sustainability dimensions through a set of adaptable sustainability indicators. The framework can also highlight how the NBS targets are related to the sustainable development goals (SGD) and contribute to catalyzing the 2030 Agenda. The framework is an important tool for water management and other NBS types.

The reduction of tropical forests has generated a loss of ecosystem services across the globe. In Brazil, essential biomes related to water provision (such as the Atlantic Forest and Savanna) have been degraded, compromising water-ecosystem services. Payment for water-ecosystem services (water PES) has been implemented as a tool to stimulate changes in the use and management of these areas. Many water PES projects have emerged in Brazil using forest restoration, aiming to improve water ecosystem services. In this context, this study identified the types of monitoring carried out in Brazilian water PES projects, to include their main characteristics and gaps. Five Brazilian projects were selected for analysis as case studies. Interviews were then conducted with stakeholders to get current data on their monitoring practices. The data from the literature review, case study approach, and interviews were analyzed from the perspective of monitoring guides recommendations. Different aspects were analyzed, such as objectives, institutional arrangements, type of monitoring, indicators, and frequency of monitoring.  The study indicates that there is a lack of standardized methods, making it difficult to specify the results of the implemented actions. The central gap is related to benefit monitoring.  It is necessary to establish a holistic monitoring system, dealing with the ecosystem as a complex socio-ecological system. Some perspectives to solve the problems were proposed. The results of this work may help not only improve the current and future PES schemes in Brazil but also in other countries, especially developing ones, where vulnerable populations depend upon them.