Protected Areas

A review of the priority areas for theconservation, sustainable use and sharingof benefits of the Brazilian biodiversity ofthe Cerrado and Pantanal (AdministrativeDecree Number 09/2007 of the Ministryfor the Environment), pointed to 431priority areas of Cerrado, 181 of whichare already protected (protected areasites and indigenous lands). For 237areas (489,312 km2), extremely highbiological importance was attributed.The priority actions that were mostfrequently indicated were biologicalinventories. It was mentioned thatdespite an expressive volume of scientificknowledge regarding biodiversity in theCerrado having been produced overthe past years, investments and socialanthropologicstudies are still necessaryfor this area. Also included in actionsthat were most indicated are the recoveryof degraded areas, a response to thereduction of biodiversity in areas wherethere was a significant loss of habitat andenvironmental education.Despite the acknowledgement of itsbiological importance, the Cerrado hasthe smallest percentage of full-protectionareas among all of the world’s hotspots.6.77% of the biome’s territory is legallyprotected by protected area sites. Ofthis total, 2.89% are full protectionsites and 3.88% sustainable use sites.In the Ministry of the Environment,actions for conserving the Cerradobiome are coordinated by theSecretariat for Biodiversity and Forests(SBF/MMA), whose priority mission isto conserve the Cerrado biome withthe objective of halting environmentalimpacts, as well as the disrespectand marginalization of its traditionalpopulations. For this, it has beenworking on the following measures:• Creation of new protected area sitesand implementation of existing ones;• Establishment of a system formonitoring vegetation coverage ofthe Biome, and which is periodicallyupdated;• Implementation of the actionsforeseen in the National Program forthe Conservation and SustainableUse of the Cerrado Biome, whichwas instituted by Presidential Decree5577/2005.Access the “Vegetation Coverage” and “Priority Areas for Conservation and Sustainable Use” maps of theCerrado biome at www.mma.gov.br/portalbio.Access the National Program for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Cerrado Biome, at http://www.mma.gov.br/estruturas/sbf/_aquivos/programa_bioma_cerrado.pdfThe Pampa biomeThe Pampa biome is one of the sixcontinental biomes of Brazil, alongwith the Amazon, Cerrado, Caatinga,Atlantic Forest and Pantanal. Grasslandspredominate in the landscape of thePampas, in which there are also isolatedwoodlands, riverine forests, shrubs,wetlands, palm groves, rocks and otherformations.In Brazil, the Pampa is restricted to thestate of Rio Grande do Sul, where itoccupies 176,496 km 2 of land, or theequivalent to 63% of the state’s territoryand 2.07% of Brazilian territory. In SouthAmerica, the Pampas extend through theterritories of Uruguay and Argentina, andoccupy an area of approximately 700thousand km 2 .The Pampa biome is hold to very rich29