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The financial needs vs. the realities of in situ conservation: an analysis of federal funding for protected areas in Brazil's Caatinga
Author(s) -
Oliveira Ana Paula Carneiro,
Bernard Enrico
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/btp.12456
Subject(s) - christian ministry , latin americans , biodiversity , distribution (mathematics) , homogeneous , government (linguistics) , biodiversity conservation , business , environmental protection , geography , socioeconomics , economic growth , economics , ecology , political science , biology , philosophy , mathematical analysis , linguistics , physics , mathematics , law , thermodynamics
In situ conservation is an effective strategy to protect biodiversity, and Brazil has one of the largest protected area ( PA ) systems in the world. However, the distribution of Brazilian PA s is uneven and the Caatinga drylands are poorly protected. As financial resources are essential for effectively managing PA s, we analyzed the Brazilian Government's budget allocated to 20 federal PA s in the Caatinga between 2008 and 2014, which ranged from 231,575 USD in 2008 to 13.5 Mi USD in 2011. Neither expenses, nor the availability of funds, were homogeneous among PA s or throughout the years. Land acquisition in a single PA consumed ~75% of the budget, and the two smallest PA s received proportionally the most money. Excluding land acquisition, the 20 PA s received 0.50 USD /ha/year. Funds were allocated not to biodiversity conservation per se but mainly to securing offices, cars, and equipment. From 2012 onwards, the PA budget was reduced. Even including salaries, the budget allocated for these PA s is ~13 times lower than what the Ministry of the Environment declared necessary for the basic operation of protected areas in Brazil, 1.5 times lower than values spent worldwide, up to 5 times lower than spent in Latin American and African parks, and up to 72 times lower than spent in the European Union, exposing one cause of the precarious situation of the Caatinga PA s.