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Snakes of the genus Boa are outstanding elements of the New World biota with a broad sociological influence on pop culture. Historically, several taxa have been recognized in the past 300 years, being mostly described in the early days of binomial nomenclature. As a rule, these taxa were recognized based on a suite of phenotypic characters mainly those from the external morphology. However, there is a huge disagreement with respect to the current taxonomy and available molecular phylogenies. In order to reconcile both lines of evidence, we investigate the phylogenetic reconstruction (using mitochondrial and nuclear genes) of the genus in parallel to the detailed study of some phenotypic systems from a geographically representative sample of the cis-Andean mainland Boa constrictor. We used cyt-b only (744bp) from 73 samples, and cyt-b, ND4, NTF3, and ODC partial sequences (in a total of 2305 bp) from 35 samples, comprising nine currently recognized taxa (species or subspecies), to infer phylogenetic relationships of boas. Topologies recovered along all the analyses and genetic distances obtained allied to a unique combination of morphological traits (colouration, pholidosis, meristic, morphometric, and male genitalia features) allowed us to recognize B. constrictor lato sensu, B. nebulosa, B. occidentalis, B. orophias and a distinct lineage from the eastern coast of Brazil, which we describe here as a new species, diagnosing it from the previously recognized taxa. Finally, we discuss the minimally necessary changes in the taxonomy of Boa constrictor complex; the value of some usually disregarded phenotypic character system; and we highlight the urgency of continuing environmental policy to preserve one of the most impacted Brazilian hotspots, the Atlantic Forest, which represents an ecoregion full of endemism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ecological Economic Zoning (EEZ) is an environmental management tool established in the National Environmental Policy (PNMA) and present in all states of Brazil. Since the 1990s, it has been implemented in Brazil; however, the attempts at implementation and the results obtained so far do not provide evidence of its effectiveness. Thus, this article seeks to understand the implementation of EEZ in Tocantins by analyzing the perceptions of local actors through the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) method. The conclusion is that EEZ in Tocantins has not been implemented. Among the identified causes, institutional factors such as low administrative capacity, governance, and "political will" associated with the disconfiguration of its normative character prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of soy monoculture in the Brazilian Cerrado relies on land and water grabbing, although water appropriation is a least studied issue in the current literature. A mixed-methods approach was used to study changes in water use in western Bahia and the evolution of water and environmental standards over the last 20 years. The results show that the deregulation of environmental laws by the Bahia state Institute for the Environment and Water Resources (Instituto do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hidricos, INEMA) has facilitated deforestation and water grabbing for large-scale irrigation by industrial agriculture. The social dynamics of struggles and resistance to this process was also analysed. The results show that water appropriation in the neoliberal agricultural frontiers of the Cerrado has changed not only water use and flows but also water governance systems, flows of power, and the representations that underpin them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the contradictory relationship between identity politics and environmental conservation in Brazil. First, the rationale for setting aside territories for ethnic groups in Brazil that have been historically discriminated against is examined and legal definitions for such traditional populations are presented. Second, ethnographic and philosophical critiques of essentialized ethnic identity are used to highlight how traditionality and conservation are conflated in Brazilian environmental policies. These policies, in turn, are related to another bundle of contradictions in Western bio-centric preservation which (erroneously) essentializes nature and excludes the human presence from within reserves. Research findings from two remote regions located in critical biomes for conservation in Brazil are presented succinctly to illustrate different kinds of contradictions between ethnic territories and conservation. In conclusion, a relational research agenda is offered which avoids the pitfalls of essentialized identity and nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Brazil publicly committed to reduce deforestation in Amazonia at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), the Brazilian parliament is moving toward weakening environmental laws. Deforestation rates continue ascending, reaching in 2021 the highest value since 2006 (13,235 km2). To overcome this paradox, strategies to curb deforestation are mandatory. The current strategy, "Plano Amazônia 21/22," prioritizes law enforcement actions to curb illegal deforestation in only 11 Amazonian municipalities. Here, we show that this prioritization is likely to be insufficient since these municipalities account for just 37% of the current deforestation rate. This strategy may also be undermined by the leakage of deforestation actions to unmonitored municipalities. Using a set of spatially explicit datasets integrated into a deforestation‐prediction modeling approach, we propose a science‐based alternative method for ranking deforestation hotspots to be prioritized by law enforcement actions. Our prioritization method accounts for more than 60% of the deforestation, detecting larger deforested areas in both private and public lands, while covering 27% less territory than "Plano Amazônia 21/22." Optimizing the detection of priority areas for curbing deforestation, as proposed here, is the first step to reducing deforestation rates and comply with the Brazilian legal commitment of 3925 km2 year−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to understand the path of environmental education (Sauvé, 2005) that is mobilized in the environmental education policies of Brazil and Colombia, as well as the disputes that took place for its elaboration. We analyze institutional documents, for Brazil Law 9,975 of 1999, decree 4281 of 2002 and the National Program of EA (ProNEA 2003, 2005, 2014); and for Colombia the general guidelines for an environmental education policy (1995), and law 1549 of 2012 that consolidates the environmental education policy (2002). Present a history of the construction of these programs, and an analysis of the concept of Environmental Education present in their discourse. We highlight the predominance of critical perspective in Brazil and a Systemic one in the case of Colombia, in addition to the presence of other currents of the area as a political strategy and negotiation with other political and ideological sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resources are essential for life on earth. It has already been proven that although it is a resource renewable, water is a limited natural resource. Countries like Brazil, Angola and the United States of America, despite being on different continents and having economic development indices very different, are privileged in this regard, and that is why they were chosen to be objects of this search. But the lack of preservation of this natural resource in all of them, combined with poor water distribution, triggered important warnings in these nations. Consequently, it was necessary to implement regulation for water protection and its correct distribution. From this delimitation, the object of this article is to investigate the main foundations and instruments existing in the Water Laws edited in the Brazil, Angola and the United States. With the use of the deductive method and from research bibliographical and legislative of each of the countries, it is concluded by the need of adequate use of the water resources from the principle of sustainability and the constitutional principles governing the environmental and urban policy, as it is a limited and fundamental resource for the survival of humanity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Brazil, as the instrument of the National Environmental Policy is an essential tool for the environmental license, Law 6938/81, in its article 2, item III, instituted the evaluation of environmental impacts. With the development of the license studies, it was found that the environmental agencies, no matter how better equipped they were, would not have the conditions to proceed with the environmental impact assessment studies of certain activities and large-scale projects. Thus arose the need for these studies to be synthesized in a special document. The synthesis document was called, in the licensing system for polluting activities of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Deliberation CECA 3, of 12/28/1977), the "Environmental Influence Report" (RIMA), currently called "Environmental Impact Report". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries, notably those that signed the Paris Climate Agreement, prioritize achieving the zero carbon or carbon neutrality aim. Unlike earlier studies, this one assesses the contribution of environmental policy, clean energy, green innovation, and renewable energy to the E7 economies' achievement of carbon neutrality goals from 1990 to 2019. Findings emanating from the study show that the EKC hypothesis is valid in E7 countries. Implying that emissions in the E7 countries increased with the kick-off of development but declined later due to possible potent environmental regulatory policies put in place. Similarly, across all models, renewable energy (REN), green innovations (GINNO), environmental tax (ETAX), and technological innovations (TECH) were found to exert a negative and significant impact on carbon emissions in the E7 countries both in the short and long run. On the other hand, economic expansion (GDP) positively impacts environmental deterioration. Furthermore, the country-specific result shows that, on average, Brazil, India, China, Russia, Mexico, and Indonesia have significant environmental policies aiding carbon abatement. Except for Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia, the income growth in the rest of the countries does not follow the EKC proposition. Furthermore, the causality result revealed a unidirectional causal relationship between GDP, REN, and GINNO to CO2 emission. No causality was found between ETAX with CO2, while a bi-directional causality exists between technology and CO2 emissions. Based on the finding, policymakers in the E7 countries should move away from fossil fuels because future electricity output will not be sufficient to reduce emissions considerably. Environmental regulations, encouraging technological innovation, adopting green and sustainable technology, and clean energy sources, among other things, demand radical and broad changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper is proposed to analyze, in a descriptive and prescriptive way, Public Policies that carry the concept of sustainable civil construction, and that are related to the issue of housing in Brazil. Methodology: The legal framework pertinent to this scenario is presented through content study, policy evaluation and information for policy formulation. Relevance: The paper discusses the existing gaps in the legal and fiscal scope of Brazilian public policies aimed at the sustainability in the civil construction sector. Results: The public policies analyzed to encourage sustainable construction lack a preventive focus, especially regarding the generation of waste and waste of natural resources. Contributions: Additional efforts, mainly political, are needed to increase the effectiveness of the application of environmental policies inherent to this theme, to guarantee the right to housing and environmental protection, both provided for in the Brazilian Federal Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal of a cartography of colonialism incites indisciplinary thinking, which transits in the interregnum of readings that analyze the movement of commodity capitalism, environmental conflicts and struggles for libertarian zones. In Brazil, the destruction of the Amazon forest, the mining tragedies and the violence against forest peoples are examples that place nature in a condition subdued by the colonialism of power. In this article, affiliat with epistemologies of the South to rethink the place of nature in environmental policy from the handicraft socioenvironmental practices in the Amazon, as in the case of Indigenous Lands and Extractive Reserves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neotropical Ichthyology promotes the Special Issue (SI) “Human impacts and the loss of Neotropical freshwater fish diversity” with the purpose of publishing relevant scientific articles on the current biodiversity crisis and the loss of Neotropical freshwater fishes in the Anthropocene. The SI is composed of 22 publications, being two review articles and 20 original articles. A total of 107 researchers contributed to these papers, involving 44 institutions based in Brazil and six other countries. Published articles investigated main anthropic activities and their impacts on fish diversity, with special focus on river regulation, mining, land use changes, aquaculture, and fisheries. Studies provided evidence about the loss of fish diversity in the Neotropics, including fish kill events, demographic changes, contamination, changes in assemblage structure, loss of taxonomic and functional diversity, besides the degradation of ecosystem functions and services, and the lack of effective protection and conservation. Studies were conducted in rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs from different Neotropical systems. The studies published in this SI represent a relevant sample of the current worrisome situation of freshwater fishes in the Neotropical region and call for urgent revision in environmental policies, management and conservation initiatives, and socioeconomic priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed, for the Brazilian case, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The concept of negative externality and market failure was used to understand the need for environmental policies capable of favoring the sustainable development of countries. The results show the importance of scale for the registration of projects. The energy sector, for example, has more small-scale projects that were created to simplify procedures and lower costs. It was concluded, in general, that the CDM has become an international historical landmark, as it is an innovative tool in contributing to the mitigation of climate change. However, despite its importance being recognized globally, it was observed that the mechanism has weakened over time and there are uncertainties regarding the validity of the Kyoto Protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, there has been a change in the way protected areas are managed across the world, as their management gradually ceases to be the sole responsibility of the government and is being shared with civil society. This study evaluates the management effectiveness, according to the managers and management boards of 20 marine protected areas (MPAs) on the coast of Brazil, using the Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) methodology. There were differences in perspectives of the managers and management boards; 8 MPAs showed a significant difference in management effectiveness values, and 11 MPAs showed a change in management effectiveness category. In addition, there was a positive correlation between the year the management board was established, and the effectiveness value provided by the council, as well as a significant difference between the effectiveness values of the MPAs under federal and state responsibility. In view of these differences, it is suggested that evaluations of management effectiveness should be carried out not only with managers, but also with management boards to reduce possible incongruities caused by the responses of only one person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents environmental indicators, based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) model, for the environmental licensing activity of offshore oil and gas production in Brazil. The objective is to consider the feasibility of a set of indicators, supported by existing data, as well as necessary requirements and limitations related to their use. Environmental licensing processes were researched for information from 2012 to 2019 associated with this type of indicators. Due to data limitation, a focus was established on two contiguous areas that concentrate about half of the oil platforms that operate in Brazil and three key indicators: total oil discharge on produced water (pressure); percentage of monitored platforms with significant ecotoxicity in water samples (state); and number of inspections made (response). The indicators show related trends despite some inconsistencies and the challenge of establishing clear causal nexus in this area. Overall, the outcomes show that developing indicators for this system is possible and desirable, but depends on a structured, planned and long-term effort. Moreover, it would be facilitated by robust databases and standardized reporting protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared ways of thinking in Brazil about the science-practice interface in ecology and conservation We aimed to identify and describe viewpoints on how the science-practice interface should work in order to improve conservation decisions by interviewing relevant actors, both scientists (ecologists or conservation scientists) and decision makers (who rely on basic and conservation-oriented ecological knowledge to make decisions). Interactive partners thought scientists had much to learn from decision makers (e.g., viability of potential actions, administrative and political constraints) and decision makers could learn from scientists how science contributes to informed decisions. Scientists in this group had diverse levels of productivity and engagement with practice, but decision makers had engaged in the last 5 years more directly with science than decision makers from other groups (Supporting Information). Finally, although some of our results suggest negative attitudes between scientists and decision makers (e.g., detached producers criticized decision makers for misinterpreting scientific knowledge), there was general agreement that addressing cultural differences is important for linking science and practice effectively. [Extracted from the article]

Environmental licensing is a command-and-control (C&C) instrument used at the state level in Brazil to enforce compliance with legal requirements and environmental standards; however, it does not encourage continuous improvement. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology that can be used as a licensing and monitoring policy for industrial activities, based on both command and control and economic instruments. Therefore, the development of a matrix to measure the environmental performance of companies is proposed so as to include mandatory compliance requirements, environmental management requirements and continuous improvement indicators. Performance assessment could be used by the environmental agency as a tool to support environmental management policy change by working with environmental incentives for better-performing companies. The results obtained with the matrix will demonstrate exactly what the theory describes: in an environment where the control imposed to the entrepreneur is by the attendance of a legislative standard and not the demonstration of continuous improvement, there is no evolution of the environmental performance over the 3-year period of the companies. Consequently, the inclusion of a tool to assess environmental performance constitutes a requirement for the environmental evolution of the country. • Development of a matrix for the use of environmental management in licensing. • Licensing is an instrument of command and control. • The matrix makes it possible to apply economic instruments. • Improvement environmental performance for enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2010, the Brazilian authorities approved the National Policy on Solid Waste (NPSW) with the aim of promoting the recycling and reuse of solid waste. However, assessing the distribution and progress of recyclable material recovery following the implementation of this key government policy remains a challenging task. Therefore, this study employs a spatial-temporal analysis to investigate the impact of the NPSW on the recovery of recyclable waste in Brazil. We employed spatial statistical techniques such as Getis-Ord Gi* and Global Moran's I. The results revealed significant and heterogeneous clustering of recycled materials among municipalities, both before and after the implementation of the NPSW. The analysis demonstrated that recycled waste tended to cluster in more developed and urbanized areas, while a considerable number of cold spots were observed in less developed regions or densely populated areas, indicating low recycling rates. These findings raise environmental concerns for policymakers and emphasize the need for interventions to enhance recycling efforts. The study highlights the urgency of improving municipal solid waste management and raising awareness among local communities about the economic and environmental benefits of recycling, particularly in areas characterized by unsanitary living conditions, poverty, and low-income disparities. Therefore, it is recommended to tailor the legal framework to local realities, considering the vast and socioeconomically diverse landscape of Brazil. [Display omitted] • This study examined the spatial-temporal trends in the recovery of recyclable waste. • The recovery of recycled waste exhibits significant heterogeneity in Brazil. • Increasing recycling rates poses a challenge and raises concerns for the environment. • It is crucial to adapt laws in local contexts in order to enhance recovery rates. • Governments and stakeholders should explore the potential of recycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We explore spatial links between 9 ecosystem services (ES) in a tropical region of high forest cover. • Both positive (n = 20) and negative (n = 12) spatial associations were found. • Agricultural lands and forests had the highest total ES output. • Forest ES provision varied nonlinearly with distance to the forest edge. • The approach provides a broad perspective at low cost of ES provision over a vast tropical region. Abstract Ecosystem service (ES) assessments have flourished globally in recent years and are now frequently used by policymakers and environmental managers. However, data scarce regions continue to be less well studied, limiting the comprehensiveness of the approach and its potential benefits. Here we aim to assess multiple ES and their spatial relationships in a region with high tropical forest cover, the state of Amapá, in the Brazilian Amazon. We develop a simple method to measure nine ES, identify spatial associations between them, and explore the impact of land use change on the capacity of forests to provide those services. The ES analysed include biodiversity, regional climate regulation, indigenous heritage, agricultural production, and NTFP extraction. Both negative (n = 20) and positive (n = 12) spatial associations are found, with agricultural land and forests having the highest total ES provision. We also show that this varies nonlinearly with distance to forest edges. In the face of currently unavoidable data scarcities in high biodiversity tropical areas, we show that this approach can provide useful evidence for land use management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of public policies on the occurrence of natural disasters related to extreme rainfall. By using a unique and geolocated database on natural disasters in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I test whether variables related to public policies - e.g. forest cover and urban infrastructure - affect the occurrence of natural disasters, conditional on the existence of extreme rainfall. Results point to a significant role for public policies in order to mitigate effects of extreme weather events. More specifically, results point to an important role for urban infrastructure, as proper sewage and waste collection, and forest cover in reducing the impacts of extreme rainfall. Moreover, I discuss how these heterogeneous effects have distributional consequences and can be linked to the Environmental Justice literature. Finally, this paper reinforces the idea that adaptation policies to disasters are essential in reducing local vulnerabilities and can yield distributional and fiscal benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using policy cycle model as a heuristic, this article studies Indian, Brazilian, and South African engagement with Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) by (a) comparing NAMA policy process and (b) identifying factors driving or limiting the framework’s domestic application. India largely remained uninterested in NAMAs, Brazil aligned its domestic climate policy and NAMAs, while South Africa had a more nuanced engagement when formulating NAMAs. Four factors influenced these countries’ NAMA engagements: the level and necessity of international support, the availability of domestic policy provisions to tackle climate change, the domestic institutional capacity to coordinate interministerial functioning, and the role of individuals in the institutional apparatus. As an international climate policy framework, studying NAMA engagement provides learnings for nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement for designing the instrument, ensuring clarity on support provisions for ratcheting up ambitions, and enhancing institutional capacity, to expedite transition from policy formulation to implementation and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pilot Program was an initiative of the Brazilian government, the G7 countries and the World Bank in international cooperation to conserve the Brazilian rain forests. Compatibility between ecological, economic and social interests should be proved, revaluing the natural legacy, production potentialities and the cultural diversity of the regional population. The subprograms concentrated on supporting sustainable production, implementation of protected areas, strengthening of regional public institutions, responsible for environmental management, support of scientific research and cooperation with NGOs. In spite of structural deficiencies, the Program was one of the most successful examples in conserving tropical rain forests and in sustainable use of natural resources. The Pilot Program stood for the beginning of a new phase of responsible environmental policy for the Amazon region, with social participation, public-private partnership and qualification of people and institutions in environmental management. After the conclusion of the Program which has fallen into oblivion in the meantime, the positive results should be much more considered in future environmental programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability perception can be understood as humans' awareness of the environment. This study assessed the sustainability perception of the Paraná III Basin residents in Brazil through item response theory (IRT). For this purpose, a scale to measure sustainability perception, in which the items and latent features of respondents in the same unit of measurement are positioned, was constructed. Fifty-two items (sustainability indicators) evaluated through structured questionnaires applied to 2519 respondents, residents of three cities in the study area, were created. The results indicated that 52.3% of respondents have no, very low or low perception of sustainability, and the study population was allocated between levels 90 and 100 of the perception scale. IRT was suitable for the data analysis because it enabled quality evaluation of the items, construction of a scale to quantify sustainability perception and identification of perception levels. The developed tool - the measurement scale for sustainability perception - can be used by those responsible for local environmental governance to develop projects aimed at social and environmental education with the goal of identifying alternatives to raise the perception levels of the local residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practitioners play a key role in implementing environmental impact assessment (EIA) policies. Gauging their perception can help in designing legislation or regulation reforms and signals what needs more attention in research. The Brazilian EIA system is under review by lawmakers, but there is scant information about the views of professionals. A survey was conducted to inquiry on practitioners’ perception of the Brazilian EIA system regarding: (1) quality of the process, (2) quality of the environmental impact studies (EIS), and (3) proposals to change the system. Four hundred and fourteen professionals participated in an online survey responding to 44 questions. Results show positive perceptions about some aspects of current practice, but there is a clear predominance of negative appraisal both about the quality of the process and the quality of EIS. The poorest practices are the consideration of cumulative impacts and determination of impact significance. As for proposals to change the system, respondents defend the continuity of specific characteristics of the Brazilian system. Essentially, practitioners are calling for incremental changes that do not require any modification in the legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within the context of risk society and its delocalized, incalculable and noncompensable global risks, environmental controversies have become increasingly complex. Within this scenario, the Brazil's High Court (STJ, acronym in Portuguese) stands out as it has been recurrently applying environmental hermeneutics' principles and strategies on its decision-making process and clarifying controversies regarding the interpretation of the environmental legislation. Through bibliographic and jurisprudential research, this article therefore seeks to outline the recent highlights of STJ's case-law, analyzing more in depth some of the court's leading environmental cases and its contributions to the evolution of environmental law in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Ecosystem Services (ES) indicators can help designing, implementing and monitoring public environmental policies. Such indicators may be used as a support tool for natural resources management, like in forest areas, which are important ES providers. In this context, military areas are particularly challenging due to the nature of the activities conducted and the need to conciliate them with ecological protection, without undermining military readiness. It is argued that in addition to technical issues, considering stakeholders’ opinions is beneficial for the selection and design of ES indicators. The main aim of this research is to develop forest ES indicators supported by a participatory indicator selection process. A case study is made of an Atlantic Forest area in the Northeast of Brazil, under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Army. To accomplish that aim, a questionnaire survey was sent to a group of stakeholders in order to evaluate an initial set of proposed 44 indicators for several forest ES. Through a weighting of stakeholders’ scores, 25 ES indicators for the Atlantic forest were obtained. The selected indicators portray the study area mainly as a provider of regulating, cultural and habitat services and less of provisioning services, which can be related with military and nature protection restrictions on the use of provisioning ES. Nevertheless, the three top-rated indicators dealt with water availability, regulation and quality (for human consumption). Together with the predominance of water-related ES that was observed (ten out of 25 indicators), this points out the relevance of forest water-related ES in the study area. On the other hand, the specificity of the military context was not clearly reflected by the indicators selected, since most of them are applicable in areas or contexts other than a military one. Alongside indicators expressing the benefits provided by nature, stakeholders’ scorings reveal recognition of the importance of biodiversity and resilience of the area. This stresses the importance of biodiversity and resilience to support ES supply, but is also linked with one of the major challenges for managing a military area with high natural value: that of conciliating military activities (that support military readiness) with nature protection. Other forest areas under military or similar particular jurisdiction, often representing a major fraction of national forests, could learn from this approach and identify areas for priority response measures. These indicators could be also a driver to increase and improve environmental management of military training activities and safeguarding natural resources in important ES providing areas like Atlantic forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyse key statements by the Brazilian government about environmental issues during two important decades, from 1972 to 1992. I identify the specific subjects addressed by Brazilian spokespersons, and the rhetorical strategies they adopted for doing so. I conclude that these spokespersons largely adopted a defensive posture in response to mounting international pressures on a range of environmental issues, while using various rhetorical devices to highlight the positive dimension of the government's environmental policies and initiatives.In this article, I analyse key statements by the Brazilian government about environmental issues during two important decades, from 1972 to 1992. I identify the specific subjects addressed by Brazilian spokespersons, and the rhetorical strategies they adopted for doing so. I conclude that these spokespersons largely adopted a defensive posture in response to mounting international pressures on a range of environmental issues, while using various rhetorical devices to highlight the positive dimension of the government's environmental policies and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazil’s Ministério Público (“MP”), or prosecuting agency, is a unique institution. Unlike public prosecution entities in other countries, such as federal prosecutors in the United States, the MP is the primary enforcer of Brazil’s environmental laws and initiates the vast majority of environmental public civil actions. In the United States, most environmental suits are citizen suits filed by private actors, but in Brazil, the MP files almost 96 percent of those same cases. These actions have improved compliance with environmental laws and helped contribute to the MP’s reputation as an independent body, separate from the corruption known to plague other governmental bodies in Brazil. While the MP’s lawsuits have proven effective, they are adversarial in nature and preclude more cooperative means of regulation. Additionally, prosecutors within the MP feel as if they must respond to every complaint they receive, which keeps them from prioritizing the largest environmental harms. As scholars like Robert Kagan, John Scholz, and John Braithwaite have noted: a rigid, punitive style of enforcement may not be appropriate in all situations with all regulated actors. This legalistic manner of enforcement creates tension between the MP, the regulated actors, and environmental agencies; slows the enforcement process; and strains the MP’s limited resources. This paper proposes creating a second branch of the MP’s offices: a more mediative style of enforcement for less culpable actors, in line with actions that certain members of the MP’s office have already begun to take. Prosecutors within this mediative branch would go beyond judicial remedies and would collaborate with environmental agencies, government bodies, and community members to solve challenging environmental problems. This plan is already within the range of autonomy given to the MP and would allow the MP to retain its reputation as an independent, uncorruptible enforcer, while also remedying some of the problems and inefficiencies that result from the current rigid, legalistic enforcement style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates to what extent have municipalities participated in the national policies that have addressed deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon under the Action Plan for Prevention and Control Plan of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Plano de Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal – ppcdam). The study found that even though the design of the federal strategy relegated to municipalities the role of mere “locus” or territory for policy enforcement, in some situations local governments have assumed a leading role and empowered themselves as actors and agents in the fight against deforestation, as a response to the Brazilian federal “priority municipalities list” strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive reforestation may be required to avert dramatic loss of biodiversity, system resilience and ecosystem services from Brazil's Atlantic Forest, and is legally required by Brazil's Forest Code. Restoration on farmland however threatens agricultural output and the livelihoods of small family farmers, leading to weak enforcement of the law and a national debate over the Code which resulted in revisions in 2012 that significantly reduced legally mandated restoration. To inform the design of effective environmental policies, we interviewed 60 typical dairy family farmers utilizing pasture-based agroecological grazing practices to assess their perceptions and knowledge of the pre-2012 Forest Code, its impacts and their willingness to comply. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) identified three distinct clusters: farmers who understood the forest code and its ecological impacts and were willing to comply; farmers who understood the ecological benefits of restoration, but were unwilling to comply; and those with little knowledge of benefits or interest in compliance. We evaluate three policy options for promoting restoration, paying particular attention to their impacts on farmer livelihoods and on their intrinsic willingness to restore and preserve forest cover. We conclude that payments for ecosystem services in the form of subsidies for agroecology practices are promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical forest conservation is considered a low-cost option for climate change mitigation. But mitigation cost assessments have featured opportunity costs, neglecting policy implementation costs. Here we use official data to identify the Brazilian federal government's operational and institutional budgets related to forest conservation policies implemented from 2000 to 2014. We distinguish the allocated and executed budgets of these policies, and provide scenario-based estimates of their cost-effectiveness. On average, Brazil spent US$ 1 billion/year on forest conservation policies at the federal level. Brazil's substantial reduction in annual forest loss after 2004 was accompanied by a higher operational budget execution of disincentive-based policy instruments, and an absolute increase in both allocated and executed institutional budgets. The post-2004 successful mitigation effort represented additional implementation costs to the Brazilian federal government of US$ 308–923/ha of avoided deforestation, or US$ 0.87–2.60/tCO 2 of avoided emissions. Factoring in also approximate municipal and state expenditures, these costs increase to US$ 385–1153/ha or US$ 1.09–3.25/tCO 2 . We conclude that implementations costs are non-trivial in size, including compared to estimates of land users' opportunity costs. This has important implications for REDD + policy design, in the sense that implementation costs need to be adequately considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) can use many design features. We investigate the impact of payment conditionality types, i.e. different specifications when to pay and when not to pay, for PES on deforestation and agricultural production in a lab-in-the-field experiment. Our experiment also tests variations in contract period and payment volatility. We designed a highly visual simulation game to characterize the decision situation of a cattle rancher in Brazil. The player can expand extensive pasture by deforestation or intensify existing pasture. The model includes both a land and a capital constraint. We applied the game in an economic, framed lab-in-the-field experiment in Tocantins, Brazil. Payments conditional on forest carbon stock lead to slow, but steady deforestation, while payments conditional on forest carbon stock-change suppressed deforestation more strongly. But payments conditional on stock increase cattle production while payments conditional on stock-change have no effect on production. Thus, depending on the level of leakage, either type of conditionality can be more cost-effective in reducing global carbon emissions. Contracts with limited periods lead to strong deforestation after the end of the payment period. Payment volatility had no significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can institutions foster greater environmental awareness in a developmental state? Can a policymaking process driven by “autonomous” bureaucrats include civil society and does this affect policy outcomes? With these questions in mind, I explore the politics behind hydroelectric dam construction in environmentally and culturally sensitive locations in Brazil. Using mixed methods to compare two distinct developmental periods, I find developmental policy makers are becoming more sensitive to the environmental and social costs of large dams instead of solely prioritizing economic objectives. Constitutional protections, indigenous rights, a licensing process with mandated public audiences, and an active public prosecutor are compelling the democratic developmental state to better engage civil society and the environment. Ultimately, the Brazilian state is building a more inclusive developmental model and my research demonstrates how democratic political institutions and environmental protections changed the policy-making process and created a preference for less damaging but less efficient run-of-the-river dams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karst areas in densely populated and industrialized areas in Brazil are under severe environmental pressure due to urbanization, quarrying, groundwater pollution, groundwater overpumping and cave vandalism. Although karst terrains receive no specific protection according to Brazilian environmental law, caves, regardless of rock type, are classified as belonging to the society, and must be studied in detail to have their significance (and related level of protection) determined. Most caves (>90%) are of either maximum or high significance, which results in protection of not only the cave but also of an associated buffer zone. Given the very conservative definition of cave (a natural void large enough to allow a human being to enter), hundreds of caves will exist in any given outcrop and the amalgamation of buffer zones tends to yield an integrated area that covers most of the karst surface. In the Lagoa Santa Karst, Brazil's most urbanized and industrialized karst area, cave preservation is presently the most effective approach to protecting karst heritage. However, other karst features not connected to existing caves (e.g., covered karst, karst aquifers with no accessible caves, dolines with no associated caves) receive no specific protection. Although this heterogeneous level of protection may yield non-preserved karst areas, the remaining zones tend to be surrounded by protection belts, imposing severe restrictions on urban and mining development and associated sources of potential damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly recognized that large uncertainties exist in modelled biofuel-induced indirect land-use change, but until now, spatially explicit quantification of such uncertainties by means of error propagation modelling has never been performed. In this study, we demonstrate a general methodology to stochastically calculate direct and indirect land-use change ( dLUC and iLUC) caused by an increasing demand for biofuels, with an integrated economic - land-use change model. We use the global Computable General Equilibrium model MAGNET, connected to the spatially explicit land-use change model PLUC. We quantify important uncertainties in the modelling chain. Next, dLUC and iLUC projections for Brazil up to 2030 at different spatial scales and the uncertainty herein are assessed. Our results show that cell-based (5 × 5 km2) probabilities of dLUC range from 0 to 0.77, and of iLUC from 0 to 0.43, indicating that it is difficult to project exactly where dLUC and iLUC will occur, with more difficulties for iLUC than for dLUC. At country level, dLUC area can be projected with high certainty, having a coefficient of variation (cv) of only 0.02, while iLUC area is still uncertain, having a cv of 0.72. The latter means that, considering the 95% confidence interval, the iLUC area in Brazil might be 2.4 times as high or as low as the projected mean. Because this confidence interval is so wide that it is likely to straddle any legislation threshold, our opinion is that threshold evaluation for iLUC indicators should not be implemented in legislation. For future studies, we emphasize the need for provision of quantitative uncertainty estimates together with the calculated LUC indicators, to allow users to evaluate the reliability of these indicators and the effects of their uncertainty on the impacts of land-use change, such as greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leading policy to conserve forest is protected areas (PAs). Yet, PAs are not a single tool: land users and uses vary by PA type; and public PA strategies vary in the extent of each type and in the determinants of impact for each type, i.e. siting and internal deforestation. Further, across regions and time, strategies respond to pressures (deforestation and political). We estimate deforestation impacts of PA types for a critical frontier, the Brazilian Amazon. We separate regions and time periods that differ in their deforestation and political pressures and document considerable variation in PA strategies across regions, time periods and types. The siting of PAs varies across regions. For example, all else being equal, PAs in the arc of deforestation are relatively far from non-forest, while in other states they are relatively near. Internal deforestation varies across time periods, e.g. it is more similar across the PA types for PAs after 2000. By contrast, after 2000, PA extent is less similar across PA types with little non-indigenous area created inside the arc. PA strategies generate a range of impacts for PA types--always far higher within the arc--but not a consistent ranking of PA types by impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for Brazil from 1970 to 2010 as an alternative indicator to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). After a growing disparity between these two indicators in the 1980s, when Brazil's per capita GPI featured a 35% decline, there was a relative catch-up in per capita GPI, but not one sufficiently strong enough to reduce the historical GPI–GDP gap. The recent trend of rapidly increasing environmental and social costs, along with the decline in unpaid labour and infrastructure services, poses concerns about the sustainability of an increasing GPI for Brazil into the future. Policies aimed at reducing environmental costs are necessary if Brazil is to enjoy a sustainable pattern of non-declining economic welfare. Brazil must pursue a higher rate of productivity in material and energy consumption in order to keep environmental pressures to a minimum level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El trabajo tiene como objetivo estudiar los impactos en el presupuesto público de los municipios del Valle de Itajaí alcanzados por catástrofes naturales en el período 2007 a 2010. Se trata de una pesquisa descriptiva, con abordaje cuali-cuantitativo, realizada por medio de pesquisa bibliográfica y documental. Los catorce municipios estudiados fueron definidos con base en la relación de decretos de estado de calamidad pública del site de la Defensa Civil del Estado de Santa Catarina. Los créditos extraordinarios fueron obtenidos en el portal del ciudadano, en la página electrónica del Tribunal de Cuentas del Estado de Santa Catarina, e informaciones complementares fueron obtenidas por entrevistas semi-estructuradas con los municipios. Los resultados muestran que el mayor impacto presupuestario ocurrió en el ejercicio 2009, cuando un municipio realizó la apertura de crédito extraordinario correspondiente al 63,30% de su presupuesto y otro realizó la apertura correspondiente al 29,08% del gasto fijado. Otro punto verificado en la pesquisa es que, independientemente de haberse decretado estado de calamidad pública, cinco municipios no abrieron créditos extraordinarios en el período analizado. Se resalta la importancia de que los gestores públicos se preocupen con estos impactos en el presupuesto decurrentes de gastos imprevistos, no solamente con la recuperación, sino también con las acciones que busquen la prevención de estas catástrofes naturales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maned sloth Bradypus torquatus (Pilosa, Bradypodidae) is endemic to a small area in the Atlantic Forest of coastal Brazil. It has been listed as a threatened species because of its restricted geographic range, habitat loss and fragmentation, and declining populations. The major objectives of this study were to estimate its potential geographic distribution, the climatic conditions across its distributional range, and to identify suitable areas and potential species strongholds. We developed a model of habitat suitability for the maned sloth using two methods, Maxent and Mahalanobis Distance, based on 42 occurrence points. We evaluated environmental variable importance and the predictive ability of the generated distribution models. Our results suggest that the species distribution could be strongly influenced by environmental factors, mainly temperature seasonality. The modeled distribution of the maned sloth included known areas of occurrence in the Atlantic Forest (Sergipe, Bahia, Espírito Santo, and Rio de Janeiro), but did not match the observed distributional gaps in northern Rio de Janeiro, northern Espírito Santo or southern Bahia. Rather, the model showed that these areas are climatically suitable for the maned sloth, and thus suggests that factors other than climate might be responsible for the absence of species. Suitable areas for maned sloth were located mainly in the mountainous region of central Rio de Janeiro throughout Espírito Santo and to the coastal region of southern Bahia. We indicate 17 stronghold areas and recommended survey areas for the maned sloth. In addition, we highlight specific areas for conservation, including the current network protected areas. Our results can be applied for novel surveys and discovery of unknown populations, and help the selection of priority areas for management and conservation planning, especially of rare and relatively cryptic species directed associated with forested habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Federal Government of Brazil has ambitious plans to build a system of 58 additional hydroelectric dams in the Brazilian Amazon, with Hundreds of additional dams planned for other countries in the watershed. Although hydropower is often billed as clean energy, we argue that the environmental impacts of this project are likely to be large, and will result in substantial loss of biodiversity, as well as changes in the flows of ecological services. Moreover, the projects will generate significant greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and decay of organic matter in the reservoirs. These emissions are equivalent to the five years of emissions that would be generated by gas powered plants of equivalent capacity. In addition, we examine the economic benefits of the hydropower in comparison to new alternatives, such as photovoltaic energy and wind power. We find that current costs of hydropower exceed alternatives, and the costs of costs of these alternatives are likely to fall substantially below those of hydropower, while the environmental damages from the dams will be extensive and irreversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have become a popular instrument in the last decades and this growing trend is also clearly evident in Brazil. However, challenges related to implementation of these schemes are often underestimated. Any guarantee that a payment will secure or provide such a service is subject not only to underlying ecological uncertainties but also to those entailed by the kinds of social interaction that are inherent to policy implementation. It is argued that the objectives proposed with these instruments can only be attained by ensuring a wide participation of land users. This article advances this topic reporting and discussing evidence on farmer's reasons to participate in three PES-water schemes in Brazil using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Results indicate that the diverging opinions regarding how ecosystem services are generated or secured, decentralized governance structures and the involvement of representative bodies in scheme design and implementation are important factors to consider. Furthermore, access to information and general environmental concern were found to be important variables to explain the propensity of farmers to participate. This generates serious policy implications for developing consistent communication and consultation strategies with scheme beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researches about environmental perception are important for investigations of knowledge, values, beliefs, attitudes and expectations that people have about their place of residence, since every human being perceives, reacts and responds differently to the environment in which they live. In this sense, the present study aimed to analyze the environmental perception of the different social actors about the Abreu's Lake in Formosa-GO. For this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with both locals and regulars to the place, and photographic records and observations held in place. The main problems identified by respondents were carelessness and neglect of the landscape, with the infrastructure, security, the environment and cleaning. These problems were constantly allocated to the Government as the main generator. In this perspective, it is expected that the government and residents commit to take care this important place of the municipality of Formosa-GO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between socio-economic factors and public opinion on environmental policies in Brazil, drawing on a survey conducted in June 2012. There are few systematic studies of the determinants of environmental preferences in emerging economies, and Brazil is a particularly interesting case because of its democratic political system, rapid economic growth, and importance for the global environment. In general, we find that the Brazilian public is highly supportive of environmental protection. To explain variation in environmental preferences, we focus on the effects of income and education. Many previous studies suggest that both should have positive effects, but the empirical evidence is mixed. Indeed, we find that income has no effect on environmental preferences. However, education is a strong predictor of environmental preferences. While college education is not necessary for environmental awareness, there is a large difference between Brazilians with primary and secondary education. For policy, the findings imply that investment in secondary education can raise environmental awareness, regardless of income levels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paperbringsthe themes of theimpact caused by developmentof the oil activitythat providesso manyriches andconflicts. The approach is madeupon theimpacts ofoil extraction andutilization of gasfrom wellsin theremovedthermal powerplantco-generation Vale doAçu,Jesus SoaresPereira. It is based on a literature search and field survey data. It coversthe main pointsof history, the composition of the oil, mining, production, geopolitical and the development of the oil activityin the territoryof Rio Grande do Norte, with the characterization of the municipality ofAlto do Rodrigues, made by thereport of the MRCP(2005), abrief reporton natural gasand presentation of data thatwere collected duringthe planttechnical visit, wherenotedthe importance of activity for the state and concern about environmental issues and no toxic fumes or gases company, which is still responsible for the production of water vapor that is injected in some wells -demonstrating the interaction between the mining activity and the generation of energy and wealth for the territory of RioGrande do Norte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries have been recently addressing the respiratory health impact of agricultural burnings with innovative environmental policy. In Acre state, Brazilian Amazon, mechanization is subsidized, enabling smallholders to comply with a cap on burned area. To appraise amendments in the policy, a statistical Hicks-Kaldor test was developed and applied to stakeholders' stated choice surveys coupled with an econometric estimate of fire's effect on health. The test unveiled the trade-off between urban dwellers' health and smallholders' production. It also avoided the large disparity of groups in size and in goods valued to result into instability of efficiency assessment across six alternative group weighting schemes. The amendments that increased joint welfare required a great expansion of mechanization supply. Such change, which is not presently feasible at state level, could be piloted at municipal level by relying on the private sector and smallholders' organizations, and also on subsidized credit and power tillers. • A statistical Hicks-Kaldor test, robust to stakeholders' disparities, is devised. • It is applied to a policy replacing agricultural fires with subsidized tractors. • A health and welfare trade-off is unveiled by alternative stakeholder weightings. • · The test proved highly stable across six alternative group weightings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Brazilian Ecological Fiscal transfer (ICMS-E) has, to date, promoted the creation of new protected areas (PAs). • The quality of that impact may be lower than expected: new PAs belong mostly to a category that impose low local costs. • The quantity of that impact is unlikely to still be high, as the incentive in ICMS-E's formula declines as PA stock rises. • State and local governments respond differently to ICMS-E incentive, respectively focused more on impact or revenue. Brazil's ecological intergovernmental fiscal transfer (ICMS-E) is a conservation incentive for protected areas (PAs). It redistributes tax revenues to reward municipalities for hosting PAs. To quantify its impact on the creation of state and municipal PAs, we used panel regressions on a longitudinal municipality dataset that combined information on PA creation and ICMS-E implementation for the 1467 municipalities in 6 Brazilian states in the Atlantic Forest region that never changed borders, from 1987 to 2016. We found that the percent of the municipal area covered with state or municipal PAs increased as a consequence of ICMS-E implementation. However, the magnitude of this effect declined as the ICMS-E revenue is shared more widely due to the expansion of PAs that reduced the gain from new PAs. We also found that ICMS-E policy primarily spurred the creation of PAs with less restrictive rules – similar to IUCN category V reserves – mainly by municipalities. For more restrictive PAs with higher local costs for municipalities, ICMS-E promoted state-proposed PAs but not municipal PAs. Our results suggest that states used ICMS-E to incentivize local implementation of their conservation preferences, including strict conservation, while municipal governments responded mostly with low-cost actions to increase their revenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use regulations are a critical component of forest governance and conservation strategies, but their effectiveness in shaping landholder behaviour is poorly understood. We conducted a spatial and temporal analysis of the Brazilian ForestCode (BFC) to understand the patterns of regulatory compliance over time and across changes in the policy, and the implications of these compliance patterns for the perceived costs to landholders and environmental performance of agricultural landscapes in the southern Amazon state of Mato Grosso. Landholdings tended to remain in compliance or not according to their status at the beginning of the study period. The perceived economic burden of BFC compliance on soya bean and beef producers (US$3-5.6 billion in net present value of the land)may in part explain themassive, successful campaign launched by the farm lobby to change the BFC. The ecological benefits of compliance (e.g. greater connectivity and carbon) with the BFC are diffuse and do not compete effectively with the economic benefits of non-compliance that are perceived by landholders. Volatile regulation of land-use decisions that affect billions in economic rent that could be captured is an inadequate forest governance instrument; effectiveness of such regulations may increase when implemented in tandem with positive incentives for forest conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a multi-agent model system to characterize land-use change dynamics. The replicable parameterization process should be useful to the development of simulation frameworks, important to environmental policy makers to analyze different scenarios during decision making process. The methodological two-fold approach intends to form a solid backbone based on: (i) the systematic and structured empirical characterization of the model; and (ii) the conceptual structure definition according to the agent-based model documentation protocol – Overview, Design concepts and Details. A multi-agent system for land-use change simulation was developed to validate the model, which is illustrated with a case study of the Brazilian Cerrado using LANDSAT ETM images. The simulation results prove the model importance with a figure of merit greater than 50%, what means the amount of correctly predicted change is larger than the sum of any type of error. The results are very good compared with nine popular peer-reviewed land change models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]