Drivers of change in biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Cantareira System Protected Area: A prospective analysis of the implementation of public policies

Abstract

The lack of implementation of well-designed public policies aimed at the conservation of natural ecosystems has resulted, at a global level, in the decline of ecosystem functioning and, consequently, of the contributions they make to people. The poor enforcement of important environmental legislation in Brazil - for instance, the “Atlantic Forest Law” (Law n.11.428/2006) and the “Forest Code” (Law n.12.651/2012) - could compromise the overall maintenance of ecosystems and the services they provide. To explore the implications of different levels of federal laws’ enforcement within the Cantareira System Protected Area (PA) - a PA in southeastern Brazil that provides fresh water for 47% of the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area -, we developed a conceptual framework to identify indirect and direct drives of biodiversity and ecosystem changes. We also projected four land-use scenarios to 2050 to test the effects of deforestation control and forest restoration practices on biodiversity and ecosystem services maintenance: the “business-as-usual” scenario (BAU), which assumes that all trends in land-use cover changes observed in the past will continue in the future, and three alternative exploratory scenarios considering the Atlantic Forest Law implementation, the partial implementation of the Forest Code and the full implementation of the Forest Code. Using the land-use maps generated for each scenario, we assessed the impacts of land-use changes on biodiversity conservation and soil retention. Our results revealed all alternative scenarios could increase biodiversity conservation (by 7%; 12%; and 12%, respectively), reduce soil loss (by 24.70%; 34.70%; and 38.12%, respectively) and sediment exportation to water (by 27.47%; 55.06%; and 59.28%, respectively), when compared to the BAU scenario. Our findings highlight the importance of restoring and conserving native vegetation for the maintenance and improvement of biodiversity conservation and for the provision of ecosystem services.

Increasing capacity to produce scenarios and models for biodiversity and ecosystem services

“…These were commonly included in the case studies, such as for example in Siqueira-Gay et al (2020), where the socio-ecological system of forest cover change in the Amazon was investigated; or in Barbosa et al (2020) when evaluating pollination service changes in Brazil; or even in Estigarribia et al ( 2020) when analysing changes in biodiversity in the grasslands of South America. Additionally, indirect drivers commonly identified independently of the geographic location of the case study were population pressure, economic growth and international demand, governance, and policy changes, such as for example in the case of Dib et al (2020) for the Cantareira system in Brazil; or in Sarkar et al (2020) for the wetlands of Brazil and India; or in Lembi et al (2020) when analysing urban expansion in the Atlantic Forest; and in Bondé et al (2020) for the shea trees in West Africa.…”

“…Barbosa et al (2020) used the OTIMIZAGRO model (Soares-Filho et al, 2013 in combination with an ecosystem services matrix approach (Burkhard et al, 2009) to estimate changes in pollination services. Dib et al (2020) used InVEST 3.7.0 (Hamel et al 2015) to determine changes in the Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR). An important advancement in global biodiversity scenarios, catalysed by the IPBES Scenarios and Models Expert Group, is the development of the Nature Futures Framework (NFF) (Pereira et al in press).…”

“…In contrast, the concept of Nature as Culture provided for diverse discussions; many case studies had indigenous communities as integral components of their conceptual model, allowing them to envision how indicators of success for this nature perspective were often quite different from many of the typical metrics utilised by biodiversity scenarios. Several of the papers in the Special Issue make use of the NFF, such as for example Dib et al (2020) 2020), thus illustrating its flexibility to be applied to multiple ecosystems at a variety of spatial scales.…”

Ocupação da Terra e Conflitos de Uso com as Áreas de Preservação Permanente Nativa Remanescente de Cerrado na Sub-bacia do Córrego do Veado, Bacia do Alto Taquari, MS

“…A conservação das florestas ripárias é de grande interesse de toda a sociedade, pois garantem os serviços ambientais básicos, como a produção de água, a regulação do ciclo das chuvas, a conservação do solo e da água (EMBRAPA, 2015), a proteção dos habitats e da biodiversidade, a polinização e a dispersão de sementes, o controle de pragas e o equilíbrio do clima, entre outros (Dib et al, 2020;Riis et al, 2020;Silva et al, 2020), que sustentam a vida e a economia de todo o país.…”

Dinâmica espaço-temporal da oferta de serviços ecossistêmicos na Macrometrópole Paulista

“…Deve-se ressaltar, finalmente, que a correta implementação de políticas públicas ambientais pode desempenhar um papel importante na regulação de fatores diretos e indiretos de mudança e ajudar a conservar o sistema, por meio de sua influência na manutenção da cobertura vegetal nativa e, consequentemente, na provisão dos serviços ecossistêmicos associados (DIB et al, 2020). Além dos programas de restauração supracitados, outras iniciativas importantes são os programas de Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais municipais e regionais, a identificação de áreas prioritárias para projetos de conservação e recuperação ambiental, bem como as ações previstas nos Planos Municipais de Mata Atlântica, Planos de Bacia Hidrográfica, Planos de Ação Climática, entre outros.…”