Search

The contamination of karst aquifers by anthropogenic activities causes a major issue regarding environmental policies, since they present high sensitivity, influenced by unique features such as dolines, swallow holes, and conduits. This paper is focused on the Carste Lagoa Santa Protection Unit, MG, Brazil, and presents three main objectives: to determine the natural background levels of chloride, nitrate, sulfate, and phosphate; to indicate the locations where the concentrations of those parameters exceed the natural background levels in the existing vulnerability map and, finally, to determine the proportion of the areas (in percentage) where this surpassing occurs, according to the vulnerability classes (high, moderate and low). Results have shown values (90th percentile) of 2.4 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 5.3 mg/L, and 0.1 mg/L, for Cl−, NO3−, SO4−2, and PO4−3, respectively, indicating that for all four parameters, there were areas (mainly distributed within moderate vulnerability portions) where the values were surpassed, which suggests anthropogenic activity due to the presence of urban settlements and agricultural activities. Therefore, the proposal of natural background levels was essential to understand the hydrochemistry of the studied region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ambiente & Sociedade is the property of Nepam Unicamp and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Brazil has created a market mechanism for compensating past deforestation based on the acquisition of forest surplus from different properties. This mechanism, known in Brazil as the 'CRA market', could become the world's largest forest compensation program. The success of this market depends on the specifics of regulations that are yet to come. The objective of this article was to explore three relevant issues to the regulation of a future CRA market within the Atlantic Forest of Minas Gerais state: the balance between supply and demand; incentives for trade in priority areas; and potential policy overlaps between different compensation programs. Based on geospatial evaluations and content analysis of government documents, the study revealed a potential oversupply of CRAs in the Minas Gerais Atlantic Forest, as surplus areas were found to be 2.76 greater than deficit areas. Eventual incentives for trade in priority areas could lessen oversupply, but unfold into sensitive territorial trade-offs. The potential overlap between the CRA market and the existing compensation program of the Atlantic Forest Act, while still unclear, is unlikely to be a very relevant one. Future avenues of research are suggested. • The CRA market could become the world's largest forest compensation program. • Relevant issues for an eventual Atlantic Forest market are evaluated. • CRA oversupply is likely to occur. • Incentive for trade in priority areas could unfold into controversial trade-offs. • Interactions between compensation programs need further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]