Soil ecosystem service (SES) approaches evidence the importance of soil for human well-being, contribute to improving dialogue between science and decision-making and encourage the translation of scientific results into public policies. Herein, through systematic review, we assess the state of the art of SES approaches in tropical regions. Through this review, 41 publications were identified; while most of these studies considered SES, a lack of a consistent framework to define SES was apparent. Most studies measured soil natural capital and processes, while only three studies undertook monetary valuation. Although the number of publications increased (from 1 to 41), between 2001 and 2019, the total number of publications for tropical regions is still small. Countries with the largest number of publications were Brazil ( n = 8), Colombia ( n = 6) and Mexico ( n = 4). This observation emphasizes an important knowledge gap pertaining to SES approaches and their link to tropical regions. With global momentum behind SES approaches, there is an opportunity to integrate SES approaches into policy and practice in tropical regions. The use of SES evaluation tools in tropical regions could transform how land use decisions are informed, mitigating soil degradation and protecting the ecosystems that soil underpins.

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Understanding perception about nature is paramount to understanding human behavior and decision making on the environment. We performed a survey-based study in Brazil and Poland to better understand the perception of land sparing for nature and the perceived value of nature. The countries were selected by intentional sampling and given their importance for local and global biodiversity conservation, and complex socio-ecological context of conservation versus agroforestry business. We performed an online questionnaire (N = 1030) in Brazil and face-to-face interviews in Poland (N = 322). We found that Brazilian respondents demonstrated more pro-environmental attitudes than Polish survey participants. Regarding the question: “How much nature that is left should be spared?”, nearly 51% of Brazilians answered “everything”, compared with 13% of Polish respondents. Just under half of the respondents from Poland (45.6%) indicated that half of the nature that is left should be spared. Brazilian respondents also perceived the intrinsic value of nature to a greater extent compared with Polish respondents; in total, 76% of Brazilians respondents entirely agreed that “Nature, its plants and animals have a value on their own, independent of their usefulness for us” versus 25% of Polish respondents. Our study contributes to a better understanding of the leverage points driving pro-environmental attitudes in both countries.

Por conta dos megaeventos, da relativa pacificação da cidade e do consequente aumento do fluxo turístico no Rio de Janeiro, foi previsto que o número de visitantes nas áreas protegidas cariocas duplicará entre 2012 e 2014, trazendo novos desafios à gestão das unidades de conservação do Rio de Janeiro. Assim, diferentes estratégias estão sendo colocadas em prática para aumentar a efetividade da conservação, quais sejam a criação do Mosaico Carioca, grupo gestor que cuida da gestão conjunta das quase trinta áreas protegidas da cidade, a implantação de uma trilha de longo curso e a redefinição dos limites das unidades já criadas. Nesse contexto, a Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente e Conservação do Rio solicitou à Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UNIRIO um estudo sobre o uso público e sobre diferentes estratégias de gestão para três unidades justapostas e praticamente abandonadas pelo poder público, as Áreas de Proteção Ambiental dos Morros São João e Babilônia e Leme e Urubu, e do Parque Estadual do Chacrinha. Esse estudo foi o 1o a especificamente diagnosticar os usos dessa ‘ilha natural’ em meio a urbes carioca e a propor a união dessas três unidades em um Parque, fundamentado nas potencialidades do ecoturismo, incluindo a proteção da natureza, a educação ambiental e a geração de emprego e renda para a população do entorno. Esse Parque, denominado Parque Natural Municipal da Paisagem Carioca, foi criado pelo prefeito do Rio de Janeiro em Junho de 2013, sendo o 1o no Brasil a ser criado com base em estudos sociais / turísticos e não em estudos biológicos / ambientais, rompendo, assim, um velho paradigma. Este artigo apresenta alguns dos resultados do estudo mencionado. Tendo como foco o uso público atual, a saber ecoturismo, educação ambiental e atividades de lazer ao ar livre, este artigo apresenta as três unidades e avalia cinco diferentes estratégias de gestão. Municipal Natural Park of Carioca Landscape (RJ, Brazil): ecotourism and sustainability ABSTRACT Due to the megaevents planned for the next years, to the pacification of the city and to the consequent increase in the tourism flow visiting the city of Rio de Janeiro, it was foreseen that the number of visitors in the cariocas’ protected areas would duplicate between 2012 and 2014, bringing new challenges to the management of the mentioned areas. Thus, different strategies to increase the effectiveness of conservation are being applied. For example, a management group, namely Carioca Mosaic, was established to allow joint management of Rio’s thirty protected areas, a long course track is being implemented and the limits of the areas are being redefined. In this context, the Environment and Conservation Department of the Rio de Janeiro City requested to the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro - UNIRIO studies about the public use and management of three protected areas largely abandoned by the public power. These units are: São João and Babilonia Mounts Protected Area, Leme and Urubu Mounts Protected Area and the Chacrinha State Park. This present study is the first one to diagnose the use of this "natural island" and to propose their junction in one Park. This proposal was based on ecotourism potentialities, such as the protection of nature, environmental education and of job and income generation for nearby populations. This article presents the three mentioned protected areas and the evaluation of five different management strategies, pointing out the best one of then, which was the creation of the Municipal Natural Park of the Carioca Landscape, already inaugurated by the major of the Rio de Janeiro City in June 2013. This is the first Brazilian Park created based on tourism social studies and not on environmental and biological research, breaking, thus, an old paradigm. In this paper, the three natural areas are presented and five different managerial strategies are evaluated. KEYWORDS: Protected Areas; Ecotourism; Adaptive Management.

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has undergone adverse land-use change due to deforestation for urbanization and agriculture. Numerous restoration initiatives have been taken to restore its ecosystem services. Deforested areas have been restored through active intervention or natural regeneration. Understanding the impact of those different reforestation approaches on soil quality should provide important scientific and practical conclusions on increasing forest cover in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome. However, studies evaluating active planting versus natural regeneration in terms of soil recovery are scarce. We evaluate soil dynamics under those two contrasting strategies at an early stage (<10 years). Reforestation was conducted simultaneously on degraded lands previously used for cattle grazing and compared to an abandoned pasture as a reference system. We examined soil physicochemical properties such as: pH, soil organic matter content, soil moisture, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Cu, Al, and soil texture. We also present the costs of both methods. We found significant differences in restored areas regarding pH, Na, Fe, Mn content, and the cost. Soil moisture was significantly higher in pasture. Our research can contribute to better decision-making about which restoration strategy to adopt to maximize restoration success regarding soil quality and ecosystem services in the tropics.

Com a instituição de uma Unidade de Conservação no maciço da Pedra Branca, em 1974, as fronteiras e usos do espaço foram redefinidos, exercendo um efeito sobre as práticas agrícolas ali estabelecidas. Decorre daí não só transformações socioespaciais, mas também a emergência de identidades sociais múltiplas, e com isso, a revalorização da memória e ressignificação de bens culturais. Utilizando como métodos revisão bibliográfica, pesquisa documental e entrevistas, buscamos analisar os bens culturais presentes no Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca tendo como pano de fundo a noção de patrimônio. Para tal, apresentamos em perspectiva histórica a noção de patrimônio natural, que ganhou destaque na esfera da Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, a Ciência e a Cultura, cujas diretrizes ressoam no Brasil. A análise resultante está também ancorada na ideia de comunidades tradicionais, e dos valores culturais que são construídos por esses grupos, a partir de uma abordagem teórica cunhada nas noções de memória e território. Nossas reflexões nos conduzem à ideia do turismo enquanto estratégia para reconhecimento identitário, em especial, em contextos onde memórias e territórios estão disputa, e identidades emergentes buscam ser organizadas e legitimadas.  Assim, estão sendo evidenciados no Maciço da Pedra Branca modos de vida, memórias, trajetórias que residem justamente no conjunto de práticas relacionadas à natureza, contribuindo para a construção do patrimônio natural.

O presente trabalho investigou o processo de turismização da vertente do Rio da Prata do Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca sob o prisma do Uso Público, pois o saber produzido a partir de tais processos apresenta relevância para o planejamento e gestão de atividades de visitação cuja experiência tenha como fim a conservação. Realizou-se revisão da literatura, aplicação de questionários semiabertos, entrevistas e observação participante. Foram consultados moradores, visitantes, técnicos do órgão ambiental e condutores locais. A partir das informações coletadas, discutimos representações de turismo, oportunidades e desafios relacionados ao Uso Público, e os resultados do “Curso de Condutor de Visitantes do PEPB”. Apresentamos recomendações para futuras qualificações ofertadas pelo órgão ambiental e concluímos que, além deste, outros órgãos/setores deveriam estar envolvidos no processo de indução de turismo no local.

Understanding the perception of Sustainable Development can help to identify misconceptions surrounding the concept in order to design better education plans and public policies on this subject. Evaluating the perception of sustainability issues by focusing on the young generation as is an important proxy to imagine what the future holds for in terms of addressing sustainable development. We conducted 177 in-person interviews on a heterogeneous group of students and random volunteers in four cities in Poland to assess their perception of Sustainable Development. The vast majority (89.3%) of the respondents were familiar with the term ‘Sustainable Development’. However, part of them (57%) associated it only to the human and social development dimensions and its institutions, whereas 17.5% related it with its environmental aspects. The results supported by the literature review highlight challenges concerning the path towards a comprehensive perception of Sustainable Development and hence the achievement of the SDGs. Based on these results, we identify opportunities and incentives to bring Poland towards 2030 Agenda.