Suchergebnisse

Despite efforts to reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, there has been an up-turn in clearing rates since 2012. These increases are in part due to failures in deforestation control. Soybean planters, cattle ranchers, and timber merchants find ways to circumvent agreements and legislation. Here we explain some of the key problems with the implementation of the principal agreements and Brazilian laws that should be keeping clearing rates under control. To combat increased clearing in the Amazon, we suggest an urgent need to strengthen Brazilian environmental agencies, improve technologies used to monitor the effectiveness of clearing-reduction programmes, better integrate agrarian and environmental policies and integrate environmental enforcement across federal, state and municipal governments, as well as improve transparency along global supply chains and raise awareness among consumers to put market pressure on producers to avoid new deforestation. © 2019 Associação Brasileira de Ciência Ecológica e Conservação

Resumo Atividades capazes de conciliar geração de renda e conservação ambiental, como o ecoturismo, são cada vez mais importantes. O presente trabalho objetivou diagnosticar a situação do ecoturismo nas unidades de conservação (UC) do Amapá. Entrevistamos os gestores das UC que permitem visitação turística no estado, abordando a situação e possibilidades do ecoturismo na UC, acesso, entraves e controle. Registramos que o ecoturismo ocorre em quase todas as UC do Amapá, mas aparentemente em níveis abaixo do potencial. Grande parte dos entraves está relacionada a uma falta de investimentos por parte do poder público (carência de infraestrutura, de divulgação, de políticas públicas, de plano de manejo e de recursos humanos e financeiros). Os altos custos, principalmente associados ao transporte, também são um entrave importante. Os principais atrativos são atributos naturais ou culturais, atrativos que são comuns na Amazônia, sendo necessário um esforço de divulgação de características exclusivas do Amapá.

Abstract Activities - such as ecotourism - capable of harmonizing income generation and environmental conservation have become increasingly important. The aim of the present study is to investigate ecotourism's status in protected areas (PA) of Amapá State. Interviews were conducted with managers of PAs that allow tourist visitations in the aforementioned state, addressing the current ecotourism status, possibilities, access, obstacles, and control in the investigated PAs. We recorded that ecotourism takes place in almost all PAs in Amapá State, although it appears to happen at levels below their potential. Most observed obstacles were linked to lack of investments by the government (lack of infrastructure, promotion, public policies, management plan, and human and financial resources). High costs, mainly the ones associated with transport, were also a significant obstacle to this activity. The main attractions comprised natural or cultural attributes, which are common in the Amazon, a fact that leads to the need of promoting exclusive characteristics of Amapá State.

An Amazonian savanna in northern Brazil known as the Cerrado of Amapá is under imminent threat from poor land-use planning, the expansion of large-scale agriculture and other anthropogenic pressures. These savannas house a rich and unique flora and fauna, including endemic plants and animals. However, the area remains under-sampled for most taxa, and better sampling may uncover new species. We estimate that only ∼9.16% of these habitats have any kind of protection, and legislative changes threaten to further weaken or remove this protection. Here we present the status of knowledge concerning the biodiversity of the Cerrado of Amapá, its conservation status, and the main threats to the conservation of this Amazonian savanna. To secure the future of these unique and imperilled habitats, we suggest urgent expansion of protected areas, as well as measures that would promote less-damaging land uses to support the local population. Copyright © 2017 Karen Mustin et al.