Bernard E, Penna L A O, Araújo E
Laboratório de Ciência Aplicada à Conservação da Biodiversidade-Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Rua Nelson Chaves s/n Cidade Universitária, Recife, PE, 50670-420, Brazil.
Conserv Biol. 2014 Aug;28(4):939-50. doi: 10.1111/cobi.12298. Epub 2014 Apr 11.
Protected areas (PAs) are key elements for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. Brazil has the largest PA system in the world, covering approximately 220 million ha. This system expanded rapidly in the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Recent events in Brazil, however, have led to an increase in PA downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD). Does this reflect a shift in the country's PA policy? We analyzed the occurrence, frequency, magnitude, type, spatial distribution, and causes of changes in PA boundaries and categories in Brazil. We identified 93 PADDD events from 1981 to 2012. Such events increased in frequency since 2008 and were ascribed primarily to generation and transmission of electricity in Amazonia. In Brazilian parks and reserves, 7.3 million ha were affected by PADDD events, and of these, 5.2 million ha were affected by downsizing or degazetting. Moreover, projects being considered by the Federal Congress may degazette 2.1 million ha of PA in Amazonia alone. Relaxing the protection status of existing PAs is proving to be politically easy in Brazil, and the recent increase in frequency and extension of PADDD reflects a change in governmental policy. By taking advantage of chronic deficiencies in financial and personnel resources and surveillance, disputes over land tenure, and the slowness of the Brazilian justice, government agencies have been implementing PADDD without consultation of civil society. If parks and reserves are to maintain their integrity, there will need to be investments in Brazilian PAs and a better understanding of the benefits PAs provide.
保护区是生物多样性保护和生态系统服务的关键要素。巴西拥有世界上最大的保护区系统，覆盖面积约2.2亿公顷。该系统在20世纪90年代中期至21世纪初迅速扩张。然而，巴西近期发生的事件导致保护区降级、缩小和撤销（PADDD）情况增加。这是否反映了该国保护区政策的转变？我们分析了巴西保护区边界和类别变化的发生情况、频率、规模、类型、空间分布及原因。我们确定了1981年至2012年期间的93起PADDD事件。自2008年以来，此类事件的频率增加，主要归因于亚马孙地区的发电和输电。在巴西的公园和保护区中，730万公顷受到PADDD事件影响，其中520万公顷受到面积缩小或撤销的影响。此外，联邦议会正在审议的项目可能仅在亚马孙地区就会撤销210万公顷的保护区。在巴西，放宽现有保护区的保护地位在政治上变得容易，而近期PADDD频率和范围的增加反映了政府政策的变化。政府机构利用资金、人员资源和监管方面的长期不足、土地权属争端以及巴西司法程序的缓慢，在未与民间社会协商的情况下实施了PADDD。如果公园和保护区要保持其完整性，就需要对巴西的保护区进行投资，并更好地理解保护区所带来 的益处。
