Protected Areas

Invasive Alien Species andBiosafety of GMOsAlien Invasive SpeciesBrazil is known as one of the countrieswith the greatest biodiversity in the world.It is placed first on the list of megadiversecountries. Between 15 and 20% of allspecies are contained within Brazilianterritory, in the continental platform, inthe territorial oceans, and in the exclusiveeconomic zone. All of this biodiversityis related to the great geographic andclimate diversity, the size of the territoryand the presence of the largest tropicalforest coverage in the world.There is, however, a series of factors thatthreaten the integrity and equilibrium ofthe several ecosystems in the Brazilianterritory. Among these we highlight thebiological invasions caused by invasiveexotic species which are currentlyconsidered the seconds biggest causefor biodiversity loss, only losing to thedestruction of habitats resulting fromthe direct conversion of land to humanuse and which involves deforestationand change to land use. Invasiveexotic species have a high potential fordispersion, colonization and dominanceover the invaded environments. As aresult, they generate much pressure onnative species and sometimes lead totheir extinction.Increasing globalization, enlargementof roads and highways, increasedinternational commerce and tourism, inaddition to the climate changes resultingfrom the greenhouse effect, tend tosignificantly boost the opportunities forthe introduction and expansion of invasiveexotic species into various ecosystems ofthe Earth.Given Brazil’s continental dimension,which includes land frontiers with 10countries, a coastal frontier with anextension of over 7000km and the riversthat enter the country, the entrance ofexotic species that can become invasiveis very easy. This ease of entrance directlyimpacts in the conservation of nativeand agricultural biodiversity, as well ason the economic and social impactsresulting from problems created for theagricultural, silvicultural and livestockproduction systems. The cost for thecountry reaches tens of billions of USdollars.79