Brazil has lost 5.2 million hectares of Conservation Units

A recent study published in the journal Conservation Biology shows that between the years 1981 and 2012 , 93 changes in Protected Areas ( PAs ) in 16 Brazilian states , most of them resulted in the reduction of these areas were performed .

Led by three Brazilian scholars , the study used the classification of the WWF, PADDD , which categorizes these changes in total extinction of UC , size reduction and reduced level of protection. Within 93 changes found , we highlight those that resulted in the loss of legal protection of 5.2 million acres , an area larger than the state of Rio de Janeiro area .

A researcher at the Institute of Man and Environment (Imazon ) Elis Araújo , coauthor of the study , says that these data reflect a change in the reduction of Protected Areas policy in Brazil . ” From 2008 , these changes have become more frequent , with 74 % of them rushed between 2008 and 2012 ,” he says.

Between the years 2010-2012 , a total of 19 protected areas decreased threshold or protection because of generation capacity or transmission of energy. ” The weakening of the protection of these forest areas compromises their ability to deliver to the company a lot of benefits ,” says the researcher .

The study highlights the environmental services provided by PAs and their economic potential . It is estimated that the creation and maintenance of PAs in Brazil prevent annual emissions of at least 2.8 billion tons of carbon, helping to fight climate change, besides the potential to accommodate 20 million visitors a year with the possibility of generating an economic impact of approximately R $ 2.2 billion .