After a long research effort with geographical data and information on protected areas, during the last Brazilian Congress on Conservation Units, the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) presented the most updated sample of areas under some sort of legal protection throughout the entire Amazon. The study cartographically represents Federal and State Conservation Units throughout the region, as well as Indigenous Lands in all stages of the recognition and demarcation process.
The richness and accuracy of the data is the result of work conducted by the Institute, based on analysis and collection of information from the Federal Daily Gazette and the gazettes of the nine states that form Legal Amazonia. "By tracking decisions published in the Federal Daily Gazette and those of the states were able to generate new maps on a daily basis, following the processes and any problems that occurred in their resolution", explains Alicia Rolla, publication coordinator.
"Although more detailed information on the conditions of some Conservation Units and Indigenous Lands is lacking, the difference in this map is precisely because it gathers graphical and territorial information from these three levels of government", she said. She said that this information can be crossed with other data regarding actual conditions in these protected areas, available through reports from other monitoring projects conducted by the institution. "The areas are under legal, judicial protection, but whether this protection is enforced is something that must be monitored up close by other studies", says Alicia.
Previous versions of this map were presented in 2000, 2004 and 2006, and since 2006 it has been published with support from the Ministry of the Environment's Protected Areas in Amazonia Program (ARPA), which has the goal of establishing 18 million hectares of Conservation Units in the region by 2007. Currently, Federal Conservation Units in Amazonia cover a total of 58 million hectares.
According to the publication coordinator, who has been working on the cartographic detailing for years, the increase in protected areas is visible, but even more significant is the presence of Indigenous Lands under protection.
Conservation units - As shown on the map, both the federal and state governments can order the establishment of Conservation Units, which are divided into two main categories, those under full protection and those for sustainable use.
Ecological Stations, Biological Reserves, National Parks, Natural Monuments and Wildlife Refuges are all areas considered as under full protection, where the primary aim is preservation of the environment and no rights of use of their natural resources is granted.
Environmental Protection Areas and Areas of Relevant Ecological Interest, National Forests, Extractivist Reserves, Fauna Reserves, Sustainable Development Reserves and Private Natural Heritage Reserves are sustainable use conservation units where use of natural resources must be performed in a manner compatible with their preservation and that of the entire area.
Conservation Units have been regulated by law since 2000, with the creation of the National Conservation Unit System (SNUC).
Recent studies, such as the "Sustainable Development Reserve - Guidelines for Regulations" and "Effective Management of Federal Conservation Units in Brazil" by WWF and partners analyzed the preliminary results of the creation of Conservation Units according to SNUC regulations and may aid in perfecting the system over the next few years.
Indigenous Lands - In their analysis of indigenous lands as protected areas, ISA lists all Indigenous Lands (TIs) with proceedings underway or finalized to identify and demarcate their lands. Based on data from its oldest database, information on these Tis comes from a thorough analysis and gathering of information published in the Federal Daily Gazette since the early 1980s, when this information being tracked.
The Institute separates Tis according to their legal status as:
- Registered in the corresponding Land Notary Public Office,
- Enacted by presidential decree,
- Declared as being of permanent indigenous possession by the Ministry of Justice, awaiting demarcation and removal of non-indigenous inhabitants from the area,
- Approved by the National Indigenous Foundation and subject to contestation, in one of the phases of the process where private parties and the government may defend other interests in the area,
- and in process of identification or review, being analyzed by a government-accredited anthropologist to enter demarcation proceedings.
Check the maps produced by ISA here (in English).