Caring for the island: dunes, beach water and what each of us can do

Why restinga and dunes matter

Restinga is the vegetation that grows on sand, between the sea and the interior, and helps hold dunes in place. According to a 2023 news report, the dunes facing the sea are the island's main barrier against storm surges. For UFSC researcher Marina Hirota, keeping this natural defence helps Florianópolis cope with rising sea levels and extreme events.

Restinga is also home to rare species. Instituto Hórus says the Parque Natural Municipal das Dunas da Lagoa da Conceição, at more than 700 hectares, shelters two endemic plants that are threatened locally (Campomanesia littoralis and Cyphomandra maritima) and temporary pools where some migratory birds return every year.

Where the dunes are and which rules protect them

Two large protected areas keep restinga on the east of the island, and a federal rule addresses protection of the vegetation:

• Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho: 1,532.35 hectares on the east of the island, mostly between the Atlantic and the Lagoa da Conceição, according to the 2007 state decree (which excludes the strip of the João Gualberto Soares highway, 20.66 hectares). It conserves restinga, Atlantic Forest and associated wildlife, and provides for visits with environmental education.
• Parque Natural Municipal das Dunas da Lagoa da Conceição: more than 700 hectares of restinga, according to Instituto Hórus.
• Forest Code: Law 12,651/2012 (art. 4, item VI) treats restingas as a Permanent Preservation Area when they fix dunes or stabilise mangroves.

Day to day, the care needed is simple: stay on the marked paths. A UFSC study of the frontal dune at Pântano do Sul (2007) explains that trampling opens paths and that the paths leave the sand looser, while vegetation helps hold it.

Bathing water: how IMA monitors it

The Santa Catarina Environment Institute (IMA) samples water every week during the season and classifies each point as fit, unfit or undetermined at balneabilidade.ima.sc.gov.br. In 2025/2026, the first report came out on 14 November 2025 and weekly sampling continued until the end of March 2026.

The criterion is Conama Resolution 274/2000. A point is fit when 80% or more of the samples from the previous five weeks have at most 800 E. coli or 100 enterococci per 100 mL. If it does not meet that, it is unfit, and it is also unfit if the latest sample exceeds 2,000 E. coli or 400 enterococci, or if there are wastes or discharges, such as sewage, that could pose a health risk.

The beaches in the north of the island, such as Jurerê, Canasvieiras, Daniela, Lagoinha and Brava, have sampling points in the programme, and IMA publishes the weekly reports and the history of each point on the same site, so you can follow how your beach is doing through the season.

Points facing the sea tend to be the most stable, while river mouths, canals and lagoons vary more from week to week, so it is worth checking the specific point.

Casan, the water and sanitation company, said in 2023 that with the Ingleses treatment plant, sewage treatment coverage of Florianópolis's urban population would rise from 67% to 72%, with a target of 90% of sewage treated on the island by 2028.

Blue Flag: what is listed for Florianópolis

Blue Flag is a voluntary international award, represented in Brazil by Instituto Ambientes em Rede. It requires yearly proof of criteria such as environmental management, water quality, environmental education, safety and sustainable tourism. On the 2025/2026 season page, Florianópolis appears with three places: the Lagoa do Peri beach, a freshwater lagoon, and two marinas, the Iate Clube de Santa Catarina and the Marina da Conceição. The three places show only the status "hoisting forecast".

The 2026/2027 page shows the beaches of Daniela, Lagoa do Peri, Moçambique and Açores, plus the two marinas, also only with "hoisting forecast" and no date published when we looked. Treat all of this as a forecast or an application, not a confirmed award.

Single-use plastic: what the rules say

Santa Catarina has a specific law on drinking straws, Law 17,727 of 13 May 2019. In short:

• Material: bars, snack bars, hotels, bakeries, clubs and street food and drink vendors must use biodegradable, recyclable or reusable straws, wrapped one by one.
• Only on request: offering a straw unless the customer asks is forbidden, and a requested straw is free. Oxo-degradable straws are banned.
• Separate collection: businesses must have visible bins and a notice about correct disposal.
• Fine: R$ 1,000, doubled for repeat offences.

The law deals with straws and does not cover all single-use plastic. In Florianópolis, Law 7,627/2008, in the wording we read (amended in 2009 and 2011), requires plastic bags to be replaced with eco-friendly bags of paper, cloth or oxo-biodegradable material, with fines starting at R$ 1,000.

Why does it make a difference on the sand? The survey Raio-X dos Resíduos na Costa Brasileira, by Sea Shepherd Brasil with technical support from USP (2024), analysed 156,600 m² of beach in 201 municipalities. Of the plastic identified, 61% was single-use, such as bottle caps, and 1 in 12 large items was a cigarette butt, which shows the weight of simple habits. The report urges caution with rankings of single beaches. We found no data from the north in it.

Who is already restoring and cleaning

Pines reached the island in the 1960s, in trial plantations. Today their shade, and that of eucalyptus and casuarina, makes it harder for native restinga to take hold. There are organised efforts to give space back to native vegetation and to take litter off the shore:

• Instituto Hórus and UFSC: since 2010, volunteers have cut pines every month in the municipal dunes park. Hórus reports more than 372,000 pines removed by 2020 and nearly 200 hectares of restinga restored. A 2023 news report cites more than 420,000 trees, figures from different years.
• IMA, TRT-SC and Instituto Save Planet: in 2026, about 30,000 pines were removed by hand from an area of roughly one hectare in the Parque Estadual do Rio Vermelho, with 52 biodiversity islands and native seedlings from Floram, now 244 plants, according to TRT-SC.
• Mundo MAR, ACATMAR and Acquanauta Floripa: the Limpeza dos Mares project, backed by Fort Atacadista since 2017, totals 53 stages and more than 205 tonnes of waste in Santa Catarina. The one on 23 May 2026, at Jardim Atlântico beach, removed about 10 tonnes.

The totals come from the organisations themselves and their partners, not from an independent audit.

Simple actions and what they do

None of this requires becoming an activist. The effect comes from small habits repeated by many people:

Cleanups that already exist

Before starting something new, it is worth knowing who already cleans beaches and lagoons here. The table lists third-party initiatives, described only as they exist, without suggesting a partnership with this site. The figures come from the organisations themselves or from news about them, and the list only includes what we could check on public pages on 21 October 2026.