the area has been chosen to be the locus of the olympic games in 2016, hosting around 70% of the competitions. it is partly for this reason, that the environmental recuperation project for the lake complex of barra and jacarepaguá was launched, with state and federal governments pledging nearly r$603 million to cleaning the lakes.

the plan entails dredging the lakes and using the sand, clay and silt recovered in the construction of an island-park, a metropolitan center, and the olympic park itself. the island-park will have trails, bike paths, a tennis court and gardens, in addition to an advanced study center for the state environmental institute (inea) and the state secretary of the environment (sea).