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Protected Areas (PAs) are important spaces for the protection of biodiversity, capable of halting deforestation and collaborating in the intentions to reduce climate change. The objective of this work is to demonstrate the importance of Protected Areas in the state of Mato Grosso in the avoided deforestation and to estimate their contribution to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion. The methodology was based on secondary data and the use of a GIS environment. As a result, it was found that in Mato Grosso there are 120 PAs between federal, state and municipal, they protect 6% of the territorial area of the state and most are located in the Amazon biome. Mato Grosso's Forest cover in 2019 was 49.8 million hectares, with an estimated forest carbon stock of over 16.4 GtCO2. The PAs were created over the years in the state, but the greatest number occurred between 2000 and 2005 and together, in 2019 they were responsible for preventing the deforestation of more than 726,000 hectares of forest, 10 million tons of erosion and storing 281 million tons of carbon, which if traded on the credit market would have an estimated value of more than US$1.25 million. If the PAs did not exist and if deforestation were to be carried out, the cost of replacing this area would be more than US$2.73 billion. Therefore, the importance of PAs in environmental conservation and in the economy related to forest cover is notorious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the research was to register the vegetal resources collected, cultivated and used by families living in rural communities in Sinop, Mato Grosso State. The methodology used was the free list technique and semi-structured interviews. The use value, informant consensus factor and fidelity level of the plants were determined. There were 217 species in 70 botanical families, of which 66% are for food and 31% for medicinal use. The interviewees demonstrated significant knowledge about plants as well as the diversity of uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]