UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO CARIOCAS: HISTÓRICO E CENÁRIO ATUAL

Abstract

Protected areas are the main strategy for biodiversity conservation. The Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot therefore a priority site for establishing protected areas. This work describes the history and current scenario of the Conservation Units (UCs – Unidades de Conservação in Portuguese) – as protected areas are called in Brazil – in Rio de Janeiro municipality. Therefore, this study reports the process of UCs creation in Rio de Janeiro, analyzes how they are distributed among the different categories of the Brazilian National Protected Areas System and spatially throughout the city and, finally, verifies if UCs have a management plan and how they were elaborated. The process of UCs establishment in Rio de Janeiro seems to reflect the world growing concern about environmental issues which resulted in changes in the Brazilian environmental policies. Currently, 24% of the city area is covered by forests and 67% of this forest cover is inside its 60 UCs. This scenario is not as positive as it sounds: (1) half of Rio de Janeiro UCs belongs to a category which might be of little efficiency in conserving biodiversity, (2) the existence of these UCs does not guarantee biodiversity conservation as many seem to be “paper parks” and only 25% of the UCs have its most relevant management tool and (3) most UCs overlap among each other which can lead to uncertainties regarding the management responsibility of the areas that they share. Considering that the city has forest cover below the minimum quantity to maintain biodiversity integrity, the effectiveness of its UCs have to be maximized. This requires that Rio de Janeiro UCs have their limits revised to eliminate their overlaps and have an appropriate management guided through well-designed and frequently updated management plans.