The systematic dismantling of Brazilian environmental laws risks losses on all fronts

Abessa, Denis Moledo de Souza; Famá, Ana; Buruaem, Lucas M.

doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0855-9

Cited by 207 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…As soon as he took office, the president-elect reduced the role of Brazil’s environmental ministry and the environmental agencies IBAMA (surveillance and environmental licensing) and ICMBio (protected areas and biodiversity management) (e.g. Abessa et al 2019; Phillips 2019). His appointed Minister of the Environment public declared he was favorable to freeze the creation of new protected areas and Indigenous lands, plus his intention to “analyze in detail” – including the possibility to degazette – the entire 334 federal protected areas in Brazil (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What threatens Brazilian endangered species and how they are Red-Listed

Bernard

Vef

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Brazil is a continental-sized megadiverse country with high rates of habitat loss and 17 degradation. Part of the Brazilian biodiversity -including endemic species -is recognized as 18 threatened. By following the IUCN standards, we review the classification of all the 1172 19 endangered species in Brazil, analyzing differences among categories and groups. Based on a 20 subsample of all 464 terrestrial vertebrates we identified 1036 records of threats affecting them. 21 Criterion B was the most used (56% overall; 70% for CR species; 75% for EN), mainly related to 22 reductions in their habitat area, extent and/or quality due to deforestation. Data on population 23 declines (criterion A), number of reproductive individuals (criterion C), and population sizes 24 (criterion D) are available for only a small fraction of the Brazilian fauna. Criterion E (probability 25 of extinction in the wild) was used for only one species. Birds and mammals had the highest 26 diversity of used criteria, while marine fish the lowest (90% related to declining populations). 27Two out of three of the 464 vertebrate species analyzed were negatively impacted by 28 agribusiness. Other major threats are hunting, urban sprawl, rural settlements, and the 29 construction of hydroelectric dams. Birds and mammals experience more co-occurrence of 30 threats. Some threats are clearly underestimated in Brazil: climate change was indicated for only 31 2% species analyzed, but included no birds or amphibians. The main threats identified are linked 32 to the patterns of economic development in Brazil and the current political and economic context 33 points to a worrisome conservation scenario in the near future. 34 Resumo 38 O Brasil é um país continental megadiverso com altas taxas de perda e degradação de habitats. 39 Parte da biodiversidade brasileira -incluindo espécies endêmicas -está ameaçada. Seguindo 40 padrões da IUCN, aqui detalhamos a classificação de todas as 1172 espécies ameaçadas de 41 extinção no Brasil, analisando as diferenças entre categorias e grupos animais. Baseado em uma 42 amostra de todas as 464 espécies de vertebrados terrestres ameaçados identificamos 1036 43 registros de ameaças sobre elas. O Critério B foi o mais usado (56% no geral; 70% para espécies 44 CR; 75% para EN), principalmente em função de reduções na área, extensão e/ou qualidade dos 45 habitats em função de desmatamento. Dados sobre declínios populacionais (critério A), número 46 de indivíduos reprodutivos (critério C), e tamanho populacional (critério D) existem para apenas 47 uma pequena fração da fauna brasileira. O Critério E (probabilidade de extinção na natureza) foi 48 usado para apenas uma espécie. Aves e mamíferos têm a mais alta diversidade de critérios 49 usados, enquanto peixes marinhos a menor (90% relacionados com declínios populacionais). 50 Duas de cada três das 464 espécies de vertebrados analisadas são negativamente afetadas pelo 51 agronegócio. Outras ameaças incluem a caça, expansão urbana, assentamentos rurais, e a 52 construção de hidr...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is the case of Brazil, a country with some world records of biodiversity – including thousands of endemic species – but also very high rates of habitat loss and degradation and a pessimistic political scenario (e.g. Abessa et al 2019; Gonzales, 2019; Phillips 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What threatens Brazilian endangered species and how they are Red-Listed

Bernard

Vef

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…While the previous examples show positive perspectives, given the current political circumstances in Brazil, the formulation of policies towards improving smallholder farmers' conditions, however, faces difficulties. The inauguration of Brazil's new government in 2019 has led to a 'systematic dismantling' of Brazilian environmental laws, weakening environmental enforcement and institutions and increasing the risks of incurring losses on all fronts [135][136][137]. In the case of smallholder farmers, for instance, the restructuring of the Ministry of Environment and the appointment of new ministers, including in the Ministry of Agriculture [138], or the law proposal No.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Implications of Alternative Bioenergy Crops to Support Smallholder Farmers in Brazil

et al. 2020

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Smallholders constitute more than three quarters of the world’s farmers, and despite their numbers, they commonly lack opportunities to advance their development status. Bioenergy production and consumption can help sustain smallholders’ energy needs and generate employment and income, but it also raises concerns over social justice and equity, especially where crops used for bioenergy could also be used for food. This perspective paper is grounded in a literature review related to three different crops in Brazil: sugarcane, landrace maize and sweet potato. It seeks to determine if these crops offer the potential to support smallholder farmers’ development in a more equitable way, focusing on opportunities for their use in bioenergy. We review the literature to identify policies shaping the smallholder development context in relation to these crops, assessing whose knowledge informs policy and institutional decision making, and highlighting the policy attention afforded to the different crops from different sectors. We further evaluate the literature on each crop in relation to water use and calorific value (i.e., food and energy). Our review indicates that while sugarcane has received the most policy and institutional attention, its development is largely anchored in research and development investments that support large-scale commercial farms and agri-businesses. Smallholders have not benefited or had the opportunity to engage in relevant policy decision making for sugarcane cultivation. At the same time, smallholders hold valuable untapped knowledge on the cultivation of sweet potato and landrace maize, both of which have the potential to generate development opportunities for smallholders. Our review suggests that the environmental impact of landrace maize and sweet potato in terms of water use is significantly lower than sugarcane, while they can generate more calories for energy or food consumption and offer diversification opportunities. Despite that these alternative crops offer considerable untapped potential to support rural development, more research is still needed to harness these benefits. Changes are needed to address inequities in policies, institutions and the types of knowledge informing decision making. Such changes need to afford smallholder farmers greater recognition and participation in decision making, so that the distribution of benefits from the three study crops can reach them to support their development better.

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“…Nevertheless, humans continue to modify this biome since pre-Columbian occupation (Lombardo et al 2013;Levis et al 2017;McMichael et al 2017). Although Amazonian deforestation rates appeared to be slowing in the first decade of the 21 st century (Nepstad et al 2014), since then, they have continually increased to unprecedented levels (Escobar 2019a, Ferrante andFearnside 2019) as Brazil's recent policies have progressively weakened environmental laws in favor of the energy production and agribusiness sectors (Rajão and Georgiadou 2014;Brancalion et al 2016;Fearnside 2016a;Abessa et al 2019;Ferrante and Fearnside 2019;Scarrow 2019). Across the Amazon, the construction of roads that enable transport of timber (legal and illegal), deforestation for cattle ranching and the establishment of large monocultures (e.g., soy, corn, cotton) are the leading causes of Amazonian deforestation and deterioration of soil and water quality (Abell et al 2011;Durigan et al 2013;Macedo et al 2013;Dias et al 2015;Lessa et al 2015;Lees et al 2016;Marmontel et al 2018;de Mello et al 2018a;de Mello et al 2018b;Rodrigues et al 2018;Zimbres et al 2018;Gauthier et al 2019;Ilha et al 2019;Klarenberg et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in forest cover and fragmentation have a negative impact on aquatic species, many of them endemic to the Xingu basin. Furthermore, given the current politicization of conservation in Brazil (Abessa et al 2019;Escobar 2019b;Fuchs et al 2019), understanding differences between the many remotely sensed baselines is fundamentally important to avoid information misuse and to objectively indicate potential issues when used for conservation or policy making.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering the many maps of the Xingu – an assessment of land cover classifications at multiple scales

Kalácska

Arroyo‐Mora

Lucanus

et al. 2019

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Remote sensing is an invaluable tool to objectively illustrate the rapid decline in habitat extents worldwide. Over the years, diverse Earth Observation platforms have been used to generate land cover maps, each with its unique characteristics. In addition, considerable semantic differences between the definition of land cover classes results in inevitable differences in baseline estimates for each class (e.g. forest). Here we compare forest cover and surface water estimates over four time periods spanning three decades for the Xingu River basin, Brazil, from pre-existing remotely sensed classifications for this area based on both optical and radar data. Because forest health in this area is directly related with the health of the freshwater ecosystem, we illustrate potential impacts of map choice on conservation of fish fauna. Understanding differences between the many remotely sensed baselines is fundamentally important to avoid information misuse and objectively decide on the most appropriate dataset for each conservation or policy making question. Our findings demonstrate the importance of transparency in the generation of remotely sensed datasets and in the importance of users familiarizing themselves with the characteristics and limitations of each data set chosen.

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The systematic dismantling of Brazilian environmental laws risks losses on all fronts

Cited by 207 publications

References 5 publications

What threatens Brazilian endangered species and how they are Red-Listed

What threatens Brazilian endangered species and how they are Red-Listed

Understanding the Implications of Alternative Bioenergy Crops to Support Smallholder Farmers in Brazil

Deciphering the many maps of the Xingu – an assessment of land cover classifications at multiple scales

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