Public Policies for Geodiversity in Brazil

Abstract

Ensuring the legal protection of geosites, or areas that have relevant geodiversity, and obtaining resources for the development of programs and actions in these territories are two of the great challenges in Brazil. This article presents an analysis of Brazilian legislation, seeking to identify the responsible bodies, sources of funds, and how each specific policy can relate to the protection and promotion of geodiversity. In addition, the proposed public policy for geodiversity, geotourism, and geoparks in the state of Mato Grosso is presented and discussed. For this, documentary research of national legislation was carried out, and existing records in the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso were analyzed for the Thematic Sectorial Chamber to debate the Geopark Project of Chapada dos Guimarães. The information was discussed based on a bibliographic survey with national and international references. The results show that although some geodiversity elements, such as fossils and caves, have specific legislation, there is no articulated national public policy on geodiversity that guarantees the identification, protection, and continuous management of geosites or even structural and financial support for the development of geoparks in Brazil. The creation of policies at the state or national level, aimed at establishing a managing body and permanent sources of funds, can be an important step to enable the development of actions related to the protection and dissemination of geodiversity, linked or not to geopark proposals. At the international level, the creation of a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) convention that establishes clear bases for the dissemination and protection of geodiversity could encourage the development of policies in different countries as an international framework to guide themes.