View source for Protected areas of Brazil

{{Short description|Various classes of area according to the National System of Conservation Units}}
[[File:Floresta da Tijuca 60.jpg|thumb|[[Tijuca Forest]] National Park]]
'''Protected areas of Brazil''' included various classes of area according to the [[National System of Nature Conservation Units]] (SNUC), a formal, unified system for federal, state and municipal parks created in 2000.

==Types of protected area==
[[File:Passeio de barco ao cânion do Xingó -Rio São Francisco 02.jpg|thumb|Canyon in the [[Rio São Francisco Natural Monument]] ]]
Protected areas, also called conservation units, are divided into different categories according to their goals. These are defined by Law No. 9.985 of 18 July 2000, which established the National System of Nature Conservation Units (SNUC).
Objectives include conservation of nature, sustainable development, scientific research, education and eco-tourism.
Fully protected units are expected to maintain the natural ecosystem without human interference.
Sustainable use units allow sustained use of renewable environmental resources while maintaining biodiversity and other ecological attributes.{{sfn|Áreas protegidas – Apremavi}}
The [[Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation]], which administers Federal units, defines the fully protected (''proteção integral'') classes of unit as:{{sfn|Categorias – Chico Mendes}}

*[[Ecological station (Brazil)|Ecological stations]] ({{langx|pt|Estações Ecológicas}})
*[[Biological reserve (Brazil)|Biological reserves]] ({{langx|pt|Reservas Biológicas}})
*[[National park (Brazil)|National parks]] ({{langx|pt|Parques nacionais}}), [[State park (Brazil)|State parks]] ({{langx|pt|Parques estaduais}}) and [[Municipal nature park (Brazil)|Municipal nature parks]] ({{langx|pt|Parques naturais municipais}})
*[[Natural monument (Brazil)|Natural monuments]] ({{langx|pt|Monumentos Naturais}})
*[[Wildlife refuge (Brazil)|Wildlife refuges]] ({{langx|pt|Refúgios de Vida Silvestre}})

[[File:Vale dos Dinossauros na cidade de Souza sertão da Paraíba Brasil.jpg|thumb|Fossilised tracks in the [[Valley of the Dinosaurs, Paraíba]] ]]
The sustainable use units are:{{sfn|Categorias – Chico Mendes}}

*[[Environmental protection area (Brazil)|Environmental protection areas]] ({{langx|pt|Áreas de Proteção Ambiental}})
*[[Area of relevant ecological interest (Brazil)|Areas of relevant ecological interest]] ({{langx|pt|Áreas de Relevante Interesse Ecológico}})
*[[National forest (Brazil)|National forests]] ({{langx|pt|Florestas Nacionais}}) and [[State forest (Brazil)|State forests]] ({{langx|pt|Florestas Estaduais}})
*[[Extractive reserve (Brazil)|Extractive reserves]] ({{langx|pt|Reservas Extrativistas}})
*[[Wildlife reserve (Brazil)|Wildlife reserves]] ({{langx|pt|Reservas de Fauna}})
*[[Sustainable development reserve (Brazil)|Sustainable development reserve]]s ({{langx|pt|Reservas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável}})
*[[Private natural heritage reserve (Brazil)|Private natural heritage reserves]] ({{langx|pt|Reservas Particular do Patrimônio Natural}})

In addition, some states designate areas as [[Ecological reserve (Brazil)|ecological reserve]] ({{langx|pt|Reserva Ecológica}}).

Although not technically protected areas, [[Indigenous territory (Brazil)|indigenous territories]] ({{langx|pt|Terras Indígenas}}) give the indigenous people full rights over the area, and serve as an obstacle to deforestation, mining and large-scale agriculture. As of 2016 there were 700 Indigenous Territories in Brazil, covering about 13.8% of the country's land area. 
Most of them were in the Amazon Legal.{{sfn|Indigenous Lands – Location and extension – ISA}}

==Mosaics and corridors==
[[File:Casa de pescadores - Rio São Francisco.JPG|thumb|Fishing houses in the [[Piaçabuçu Environmental Protection Area]] ]]
The SNUC law defines a [[Protected area mosaic (Brazil)|protected area mosaic]] as a collection of protected areas of the same or different categories that are near to each other, adjoining each other or overlapping, and that should be managed as a whole. 
Given the different categories of conservation unit and other protected areas in a mosaic, the different conservation goals must be considered.{{sfn|Mosaicos de áreas protegidas – ISA}}
In addition to fully protected and sustainable use conservation units a mosaic may include private lands and indigenous territories.{{sfn|Mosaicos de áreas protegidas – ISA}}

The SNUC law also recognises [[Ecological corridor (Brazil)|ecological corridor]]s as portions of natural or semi-natural ecosystems linking protected areas that allow gene flow and movement of biota, recolonization of degraded areas and maintenance of viable populations larger than would be possible with individual units.
The federal Ecological Corridor Project has its roots at least as far back as 1993.
It has identified seven major corridors, with focus on implementing and learning from the [[Central Amazon Corridor]] and the Central Atlantic Forest Corridor.{{sfn|Corredor ecológico – ISA}}

==Degree of coverage==

As of 2004 federally-administered conservation units covered 7.23% of Brazilian territory, below the level of 10% recommended by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]].{{sfn|Barbosa Monteiro|Soares do Prado|Dias|2009|p=14}}
Federal coverage was:{{sfn|Barbosa Monteiro|Soares do Prado|Dias|2009|p=15}}
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|-
!Type !! Protected area (ha) !! Total area (ha) !! Percentage<br/>Protected
|-
| Fully protected || 28,147,214.93 || 854,546,635.67 || 3.29%
|-
| Sustainable use || 33,663,938.75 || 854,546,635.67 || 3.94%
|-
|totals || 61,811,153.68 || 854,546,635.67 || 7.23%
|}
Levels of protection vary considerably depending on the [[biome]]. Federal coverage as of 2005 was:{{sfn|Barbosa Monteiro|Soares do Prado|Dias|2009|p=15}}
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|-
!Biome !! Total area (km<sup>2</sup>) !! Percentage<br/>Protected
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| [[Amazon biome|Amazon]] || 4,239,000 || 13.40%
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| [[Cerrado]] || 2,116,000 || 4.10%
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| [[Atlantic Forest]] || 1,076,000 || 2.01%
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| [[Pantanal]] || 142,500 || 1.10%
|-
|style="text-align:left;"| [[Caatinga]] || 736,800 || 0.91%
|}
Protected areas are subject to reduction, reclassification or declassification (RRD). 
Between 1981 and 2010 an area of {{convert|45000000|ha}} was downgraded or lost in this way, with almost 70% of cases occurring since 2008.
The main cause was making land available for hydroelectric dams in the Amazon region.
Other reasons were property speculation and [[agribusiness]].{{sfn|Bruno Deiro|Herton Escobar|2012}}

== See also ==
* [[List of ecoregions in Brazil]]
* [[List of Atlantic Forest conservation units]]
* [[List of state parks in São Paulo]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Protected areas of Brazil}}
==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation|ref={{harvid|Áreas protegidas – Apremavi}}|language=pt|title=Áreas protegidas|publisher=Apremavi - Associação de Preservação do Meio Ambiente e da Vida|url=http://www.apremavi.org.br/mata-atlantica/mata-segura/areas-protegidas/|access-date=2016-05-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502212705/http://www.apremavi.org.br/mata-atlantica/mata-segura/areas-protegidas|archive-date=2016-05-02}}
*{{citation|title=Plano De Manejo Estação Ecológica De Angatuba|location=São Paulo – Brasil|date=February 2009 |language=pt
 |last1=Barbosa Monteiro |first1=Claudio Henrique |last2=Soares do Prado |first2=Bárbara Heliodora |last3=Dias |first3=Antonio Cecílio
 |publisher =Floresta Estadual & Estação Ecológgica de Angatuba
 |url=http://www.iflorestal.sp.gov.br/Plano_de_manejo/eec_angatuba/Plano_de_Manejo_EEc_Angatuba.pdf|access-date=2016-06-30}}
*{{citation|title=Brasil perdeu um RJ de áreas protegidas|date=19 December 2012|language=pt
 |author1=Bruno Deiro|author2=Herton Escobar |publisher=Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
 |url=https://www.ufpe.br/agencia/clipping/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9657:brasil-perdeu-um-rj-de-areas-protegidas&catid=468&Itemid=240|access-date=2016-07-23}}
*{{citation|ref={{harvid|Categorias – Chico Mendes}}|language=pt
 |title=Categorias|publisher=[[Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation]]
 |url=http://www.icmbio.gov.br/portal/unidadesdeconservacao/categorias|access-date=2016-05-08}}
*{{citation|ref={{harvid|Corredor ecológico – ISA}}|language=pt
 |title=Corredor ecológico|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental
 |url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/%C3%A1reas-para-conserva%C3%A7%C3%A3o/corredor-ecol%C3%B3gico|access-date=2016-07-13}}
*{{citation|ref={{harvid|Indigenous Lands – Location and extension – ISA}} |work=Povos Indígenas no Brasil
 |title=Indigenous Lands – Location and extension|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental
 |url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/c/terras-indigenas/demarcacoes/localizacao-e-extensao-das-tis|access-date=2016-06-04}}
*{{citation|ref={{harvid|Mosaicos de áreas protegidas – ISA}}|language=pt|title=Mosaicos de áreas protegidas|publisher=ISA: Instituto Socioambiental|url=https://uc.socioambiental.org/territ%C3%B3rio/mosaicos-de-%C3%A1reas-protegidas|access-date=2016-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620005703/http://uc.socioambiental.org/territ%C3%B3rio/mosaicos-de-%C3%A1reas-protegidas|archive-date=2016-06-20|url-status=dead}}
{{refend}}
 
{{Protected areas of Brazil}}
{{South America topic|Protected areas of}}
{{Brazil topics|state=autocollapse}}

[[Category:Protected areas of Brazil| ]]
[[Category:Lists of protected areas of Brazil| ]]