Environmental Conservation Unit Research Articles

ECONOMIC EXPANSION AND ECOLOGICAL PRESERVATION: THE TABULEIRO MUNICIPAL PARK DEBATE IN MATINHOS, BRAZIL

This study aims to highlight the Havan department store's attempt to establish one of its branches within the Parque Municipal do Tabuleiro, located in the city of Matinhos, Paraná, Brazil. This area represents a critical hotspot of the Atlantic forest amidst an urban landscape, harboring species on the brink of extinction, including the caixeta tree. This endeavor sparked controversy not only due to the proposal itself but also because of the actions taken by the local executive and legislative authorities. They orchestrated extraordinary sessions, disregarding legal deadlines, to alter the city master plan. Their objective was to reclassify the area, shifting its status from an environmental conservation unit to a zone open for commercial exploitation. This maneuver garnered widespread attention from the media and the Public Prosecutor's Office, leading to the latter's recommendation to halt the process, warning of potential administrative misconduct by the executive branch.

A new species of Lumbrineriopsis (Annelida, Eunicida, Lumbrineridae) from southeastern Brazil.

Lumbrineriopsisdulcissp. nov. is morphologically described from the continental shelf and slope of Espírito Santo and the Campos Basin of Rio de Janeiro state, southeastern Brazil, at depths between 14 and 400 m. Lumbrineriopsismucronata is the only species of the genus recorded until now in Brazil. The new species differs from other congeneric species in its jaw-apparatus morphology with unfused mandibles and a fixed number of simple limbate chaetae and simple, bidentate, hooded hooks in each parapodium. This paper aims to fill the gap in knowledge on the family Lumbrineridae, which has not been studied in Brazil for the last 25 years and provides the first record of the genus from Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro states. This record is significant given the damage to the marine ecosystem of the Espírito Santo region due to the 2015 rupture of the Samarco mining company dam, the largest environmental disaster in Brazil's history. In addition, this region has important environmental conservation units such as Costa das Algas Environmental Protection Area, Santa Cruz Wildlife Refuge, and Comboios Biological Reserve. All these preserved areas are of paramount importance for the protection of marine biological diversity.

Environmental Conservation Units – a Pragmatist Analysis of the Organizational Management and Modes of Existence of an Ecological Station

Abstract Protected areas are the main instrument used for protecting and conserving nature (UN, 2018). In Brazil, these areas are called Unidades de Conservação (UCs), or Conservation Units in English, and despite their territorial coverage and the complexity of their problems, they have not been properly studied by the area of administration. As a result, in this article we aimed to broaden the understanding about the modes of existence, as well as about the management of a protected area in a particular territory. For this, we took a pragmatist epistemological approach, favoring action above all. The study material derives from ethnographic research using participant observation at a UC managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity (ICMBio). As results, we identified three distinct modes of existence of the organization, namely: environmental education; production of expertise; and protection and inspection of nature. The analysis of these modes of existence enabled a better understanding of how specific organizational configurations emerge that situationally position the actors in different ways, engendering collective action and its management. Finally, we forge arguments that highlight possible contributions of a pragmatist epistemology to the organizational analysis of UCs.

Environmental Conservation Units – a Pragmatist Analysis of the Organizational Management and Modes of Existence of an Ecological Station

Abstract Protected areas are the main instrument used for protecting and conserving nature (UN, 2018). In Brazil, these areas are called Unidades de Conservação (UCs), or Conservation Units in English, and despite their territorial coverage and the complexity of their problems, they have not been properly studied by the area of administration. As a result, in this article we aimed to broaden the understanding about the modes of existence, as well as about the management of a protected area in a particular territory. For this, we took a pragmatist epistemological approach, favoring action above all. The study material derives from ethnographic research using participant observation at a UC managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity (ICMBio). As results, we identified three distinct modes of existence of the organization, namely: environmental education; production of expertise; and protection and inspection of nature. The analysis of these modes of existence enabled a better understanding of how specific organizational configurations emerge that situationally position the actors in different ways, engendering collective action and its management. Finally, we forge arguments that highlight possible contributions of a pragmatist epistemology to the organizational analysis of UCs.

HEALTH CARE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION UNITS IN AMAZONAS: CONFLICT OF COMPETENCY OR RESPONSIBILITY ISSUE?

This article analyzes the discursive representations in the collective thinking of socio-environmentalists about the competencies and responsibilities of the policy of protected areas with the attention to the health of the riverside populations. The method is an exploratory descriptive of qualitative approach based on the collective thinking of socioenvironmentalists working in the protected areas policy of Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve from seven interviews collected through a semi-structured script which were analyzed by the Collective Subject Discourse technique. Respondents express knowledge about the constitutional competences of the municipality with health, but they have difficulty in dialogue with the city halls on the subject; the responsibilities of the management of conservation units (UC) and public non-state organizations that work in support of co-management are attributed the responsibility as to captain the public policies and the formulator of scientific information for the improvement of local health. The absence of dialogue adds to the lack of a public agenda within the scope of environmental policy. There are experiences of access to health in the rural area adapted to the socio-environmental context of the reserve, however, these suffer discontinuity. The discursive representations of the collective thinking of socioenvironmentalists express knowledge about municipal competences with health and concerns regarding meeting these needs. The meeting of social needs is organized in a conflictual manner, and this is due to the lack of coordination between the various institutions that operate in this territory. The decentralization of competences and responsibilities over natural resources through the co-management of UCs imposed new roles and authorities on the territories.

Assessment of Offshore Wind Power Potential along the Brazilian Coast

Brazilian offshore potential exploration is still in its early stages, with no single offshore park in operation or being implemented. Unlike the already identified onshore wind potential—with over 14 GW installed in the form of onshore wind turbines—offshore wind potential research is absent and restricted to limited areas. In this context, this study aims to identify offshore wind potential throughout the Brazilian coast for electricity generation. The research method took into account the average annual wind velocity records as 100 m/s, as well as bathymetry and the distance from the coast baseline, to classify areas displaying the greatest potential, applying an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to the geographic information system for the identification of potential offshore wind energy exploration sites. Environmental conservation units were considered exclusion areas. The installable capacity using aerogenerators was estimated at 3 TW, while an annual average power production of 14,800 TWh was calculated for the sum of the viable areas. These results demonstrate that the wind potential identified throughout the Brazilian coast provides the conditions for significant energy sector development. To this end, it is necessary to establish an ecological economic zoning of the areas displaying the greatest potential identified herein for the beginning of offshore exploration in Brazil.

Descrição biométrica da espécie Trigona truculenta (Hymenoptera: Apidae) e transferência de nidificação em Belterra, Pará

The stingless bee Trigona truculenta, popularly known as "Sanharão" occurs in the Neotropical region and is considered a defensive bee, because it has an expressive population, with approximately 80,000 individuals, who have cutting jaws and defend themselves from their invaders with "bites ", Making management difficult. In this sense, the present work had the objective of performing the rescue and transfer of a nesting nest in an urban area of the municipality of Belterra, Pará, as well as to study the habit of nesting, providing subsidies for management programs and preservation of colonies of native bees. Information about the nest number and area of breeding discs, calving cell size (height, diameter), size of honey pots and pollen, volume of honey pots and weight of the pollen masses contained in the pots. The species has a very large nest structure, which size was 1.30 m long by 1.25 m wide, requiring considerable space for nesting, being able to be rescued and managed rationally for environmental conservation units. The nest was divided into six boxes, five with their breeding discs with real cells and princesses and a box with breeding discs and queen. These boxes were taken to an area of environmental preservation (APA). It was concluded that it is necessary to redeem species of native bees that do not present the potential for rational breeding, because they run the risk of destroying their swarms, causing an imbalance to the environment, since they provide an indispensable service, pollination.

Assessing sugarcane expansion to ethanol production under climate change scenarios in Paranaíba river basin – Brazil

Agroclimatic aptitude can provide information on regions with less impact to the environment for sugarcane growth to ethanol production. In this study, agroclimatic aptitude maps are generated for the region encompassing the Paranaíba river basin in central-western Brazil, which has presented suitable conditions for sugarcane expansion. Considering a rainfed framework, the hydrological requirements were estimated using meteorological station data; numerical integrations of climate change projections, from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory's Earth System Models under two climate change scenarios; and the crop model, CROPWAT 8.0, from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The resulting agroclimatic aptitude maps exhibit areas of sugarcane vulnerability to climate change, as well as potential regions for its expansion. None of the performed analyses indicate the increase in temperature as a limiting factor for sugarcane production in that region. Considering thermal and hydric aptitudes, the water deficit is the only limiting factor in the study area, therefore sugarcane production would require irrigation. This study presents the southwestern region of the river basin as more suitable to the expansion of sugarcane, because the lower risk of water deficit, under different climate paths with distinctive El Niño Southern Oscillation variability conditions. Additionally, the southwestern part of the Paranaíba river basin has fewer environmental conservation units, as well as a vast pastureland. Cattle herd can be reallocated toward degraded pasturelands, which in turn can be recovered. Therefore, sugarcane expansion to the southwestern region of the Paranaíba river basin would affect less the environment.

High accuracy mapping with cartographic assessment for a fixed-wing remotely piloted aircraft system

The lack of updated maps on large scale representations has encouraged the use of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) to generate maps for a wide range of professionals. However, some questions arise: do the orthomosaics generated by these systems have the cartographic precision required to use them? Which problems can be identified in stitching orthophotos to generate orthomosaics? To answer these questions, an aerophotogrammetric survey was conducted in an environmental conservation unit in the city of Goiânia. The flight plan was set up using the E-motion software, provided by Sensefly—a Swiss manufacturer of the RPAS Swinglet CAM used in this work. The camera installed in the RPAS was the Canon IXUS 220 HS, with the number of pixels in the sensor array of 12.1 megapixel, complementary metal oxide semiconductor 1 ∶ 2.3 ? (4000 × 3000 pixel), horizontal and vertical pixel sizes of 1.54 μm. Using the orthophotos, four orthomosaics were generated in the Pix4D mapper software. The first orthomosaic was generated without using the control points. The other three mosaics were generated using 4, 8, and 16 premarked ground control points. To check the precision and accuracy of the orthomosaics, 46 premarked targets were uniformly distributed in the block. The three-dimensional (3-D) coordinates of the premarked targets were read on the orthomosaic and compared with the coordinates obtained by the geodetic survey real-time kinematic positioning method using the global navigation satellite system receiver signals. The cartographic accuracy standard was evaluated by discrepancies between these coordinates. The bias was analyzed by the Student’s t test and the accuracy by the chi-square probability considering the orthomosaic on a scale of 1 ∶ 250, in which 90% of the points tested must have a planimetric error of <0.13 m with a standard deviation of 0.08 m and altimetric errors of <0.30 m with a standard deviation of 0.20 m. It was observed that some buildings in the orthomosaics were not properly orthorectified. The orthomosaics generated with 8 or more points reached the scale of 1 ∶ 250, whereas without control points the scale was 10-fold smaller (1 ∶ 3000).

Evaluation of vegetation cover from IVDN vegetation indexes: possible effects of climate change at Catimbau National Park

The Catimbau National Park (Parna Catimbau) is an environmental conservation unit (CU) created by Decree Law No. 4,340, dated 08/22/2002, in accordance with Federal Law No. 9,985 (SNUC Law). This CU is characterized by being a National Archaeological Heritage by IPHAN and presenting a floristic diversity, which makes it an area of extreme biological importance. However, despite being a region defined by the Ministry of Environment as an integral protection unit, we can see in this area the presence of families and consequent anthropic activities such as agriculture, irrigated production, pastures and other agents that have been contributing to the modification of this Parna. This article aimed to map and evaluate the spectrum-temporal dynamics of the vegetation cover in the Catimbau National Park (PE) area and its possible relationships with climate change, in the period of 2003 and 2016. Remote Sensing techniques such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index - IVDN, whose values vary in the range of -1 to 1, were applied to the Vegetation study assisted by Landsat 5, TM sensor and Landsat 8, OLI sensor satellite images. The software SPRING was manipulated to create a geographic database and for the development of programming aided by LEGAL in order to correct atmospheric influences, among other parameters. The responses of these analyzes and their respective problematic of the potential contributing factors indicated changes in the vegetation cover with the highest increase for the anthropic area (0.107-0.207) and Soil / Outcrop (0.207-0.307) for the year 2016. These expansions are characteristics of physical, environmental and anthropogenic factors, where they all contribute for hazardous situations in the area. These results indicate the need for social and environmental studies to support environmental management of this conservation unit of the Caatinga biome.

Sociologia e gestão ambiental: considerações a partir de uma Reserva Extrativista Marinha

In Brazil, Extractive Reserve is an environmental conservation unit. It is subject to a comanagement regime by residents, resources users, representatives of public and private agencies and civil society. This paper aims to understand how these actors interact to build this institution in a participatory way. It applies the sociological concepts of social networks, social and cultural capital, habitus and field, common resources management and interactive governance to the experience of the Caete-Taperacu Extractive Marine Reserve, in Braganca municipality, Para State. The research employed a qualitative methodology, including document analysis about fisheries in the Amazonian seashore, semi-directive interviews with local fishermen and observations in meetings at the Association of Residents and Users of the Reserve during the year 2012. The social networks among users, especially fishermen, were incomplete, denser at the local level and with few external links, hence the contradiction between inshore fishery management and distant fishery deregulation. Yet, the growth of awareness of caring for the environment in the new territory is evident. The local committees, assemblies and the joint designing of rules and plans foster the interactive learning, despite the capital inequalities of the involved actors. Keywords: co-management, participation, extractive reserve.

Trophic strategy of Atlantirivulus riograndensis (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae), a non-annual rivulid threatened by extinction, in a perennial environment, Brazil)

ABSTRACT Rivulidae includes non-annual fish of perennial habitats and annual fish of temporary wetlands. The objective of this research was to investigate the trophic strategy of Atlantirivulus riograndensis in a perennial environment. Sampling occurred in an environmental conservation unit in the Pampa biome, Brazil. Quantification of the diet followed the volumetric method. Consumption of autochthonous material as the main food source of the species followed the pattern of Rivulidae. Species is zooplanktonic when young. Food spectrum is broadened and insectivorousness increases with ontogeny, revealing a specialist trend in the feeding strategy of A. riograndensis. The most diverse feeding occurs in the spring and summer seasons in which the presence of larger fish was more frequent than in other seasons. The increased consumption of microcrustaceans in the fall was related to smaller individuals, captured in greater quantities in this post-reproductive period. The lowest diversity of dietary items occurs during the winter and may reflect the lower diversity of food resources available in this season or the transition from juvenile to adult diet, with consumption of autochthonous Diptera by medium sized fish.

A EFETIVA IMPLANTAÇÃO DAS UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO AMBIENTAL POR MEIO DA DESAPROPRIAÇÃO

This paper analyzes the importance of environmental conservation units. It shows that the mere creation of the environmental conservation units is not enough to promote accordingly the environmental protection. It is indispensable an effective implementation of environmental conservation units in order to an effective protection of the ecologically balanced environment, in special the biodiversity. It notes that the expropriation of private property in areas constituted as conservation units is an important instrument to materialize this effective implantation. We tried to understand the problem through the deductive method, basing on the analysis of doctrines and articles related to the proposed topic.

Environmental conservation and social conflict in the Amazon

This article summarizes results of research carried out with the traditional riverside communities in the municipality of Oriximiná, in the western section of the state of Pará. We aim to understand the relationship between traditional populations and environmental agencies in environmental conservation units located in non-specially protected areas protected in the Amazon. We develop research in quilombola communities that occupy forest areas on the Trombetas River, located in protected areas of the Federal Government (Trombetas River Biological Reserve and National Saracá-Taquera Forest) and lowland communities located on the river Nhamundá, which are not specially protected areas. The former endure constant conflicts with environmental agencies, while the latter has developed an important process of collective organization and cooperation with governmental agencies for joint inspection of its resource units. We discuss how the conceptualization of protection units can foster conflict and accentuate vulnerability to typical forms of social reproduction amongst traditional populations of the Brazilian Amazon.

Soil organic matter and soil acidity in Mangrove areas in the river Paraiba Estuary, Cabedelo, Paraiba, Brazil

Mangrove ecosystems are of great environmental significance, because of their fragility and role in feeding and breeding various animal species. In northeastern Brazil, the disorderly occupation of estuarine areas and the urban sprawl have led to a considerable loss of the original area occupied by mangroves. In the municipality of Cabedelo, State of Paraiba, there are about 4,900 ha of remnant mangrove areas in the estuarine complex of the Paraiba River. However, information about the attributes of mangrove soils at this location is quite scarce. The aim of this study was to quantify the soil organic matter and soil acidity in mangroves located in the estuary of the Paraiba River, State of Paraiba, Brazil, in order to increase the database of soil attributes in this region. The study area is in local influence of the Restinga de Cabedelo National Forest (Flona), an environmental conservation unit of the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. For the choice of sampling points, we considered an area that receives direct influence of the eviction of domestic and industrial effluents. The soil of the study area is an “Organossolo Haplico” in Brazilian Soil Classification (Histosol), and was sampled at four point sites: one upstream of the effluent discharge (P1), one in the watercourse receiving effluent water (P2), one downstream of the effluent discharge (P3) and another near Flona (P4), at 0-20 and 20-40 cm, in four replications in time (28/08/2012 in the morning and afternoon, and 21/01/2013 in the morning and afternoon). Potential acidity, pH and soil organic matter (SOM) were determined. No significant differences were detected in the potential acidity of the four collection sites, which ranged from 0.38 to 0.45 cmol c dm -3 . Soil pH was greatest at point P4 (7.0) and lowest at point P1 (5.8). The SOM was highest at point P1 (86.4 %) and lowest at P2 (77.9 %). The attributes related to soil acidity were not sensitive to indicate differences in the environments we evaluated, and seem not to indicate the contamination of mangroves by discharge of sewage into water bodies that border these environments. The high organic matter content of soils in the mangrove may have helped avoid significant fluctuations in soil acidity, because of the large buffering capacity.

NORMAS E CONFLITOS SOCIAIS NA GESTÃO DE ZONASÚMIDAS EM UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO:o caso do Parque Municipal Serra da Areia em Aparecidade Goiânia, Goiás

The use of wetlands is closely related to the existence of societies. For the government the management of wetlands is essential because of its environmental significance and different interests of stakeholders. This research aimed to investigate environmental laws and how they are enforced to manage the wetlands located in the Environmental Conservation Unit Serra da Areia, a public municipality park. Public Ministry, Communities, NOG’s, the Municipality of Aparecida de Goiânia, and private companies were the main stakeholders evaluated in this study. Differences in land use type and stakeholders’ interests lead to high pressure on the wetlands. The lack of infrastructure in the Conservation Unit and lack of public participation on surveillance and best management practices lead to increase the environmental unsustainability of the Serra da Areia Park.

Evaluation of collaborative strategies for ecotourism and recreational activities in natural parks of Rio de Janeiro

In the city of Rio de Janeiro, the management agencies of environmental conservation units of the park type have been attempting to meet five primary objectives set by the National System for Conservation Units (NSCU), using participatory management guidelines for these units. Two of these objectives relate to the development of recreation activities that involve contact with nature and ecological tourism. This article presents the analyses and conclusions regarding the implementation of collaborative strategies with businesses to achieve such objectives; it is part of a series of research studies having a broader scope. Case studies were conducted in eight parks by means of dozens of interviews with managers and other interested social actors, as well as by documentary research and direct observation. The results suggest that the ecotourism objective is still far from being reached, and that the collaborative strategies used are not sufficient to compensate for the organizational, material and human limitations that encumber these agencies. It was also concluded for the sample that there lacks a strategic vision on the part of the three branches of government involved in the management of these parks in the sense of viewing ecotourism in the city's conservation units as a powerful means to foster local sustainable development.

Inventário de mosquitos (Diptera: Culicidae) da Unidade de Conservação Ambiental Desterro, Ilha de Santa Catarina, Sul do Brasil

Dois mil e sessenta e um espécimes distribuídos em 36 espécies de mosquitos foram coletadas entre agosto de 2007 e maio de 2008 na Unidade de Conservação Ambiental Desterro (localizada no Estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil). As cinco espécies mais abundantes foram: Runchomyia reversa (29,74%), Ochlerotatus scapularis (14,80%), Wyeomyia pallidoventer (9,51%), Anopheles cruzii (8,30%) e Sabethes purpureus (7,03%). São registradas dez novas espécies de Culicidae para o Estado de Santa Catarina, sendo que dessas, seis pertencentes ao gênero Wyeomyia.

Disputas pela legitimação de lógicas de uso e apropriação do meio natural:conservação ambiental, representações e conflitos no entorno do Parque Nacional das Emas - GO &lt;br&gt;DOI:10.5007/1807-1384.2010v7n1p37&lt;/br&gt;

This article aims to discuss reconfigurations in social dynamics starting from the incorporation of demands from issues, taking, on an empirical base, the conflict in the surroundings of EMAS National Park, environmental conservation unit located on the border of the States of Goias, Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. After direct observation, desk research, techniques of free associations of words and semi structured interviews with 51 agents in the area of study, it is noted that the collective experience of the conservation unit enables an update of previously existing conflicts. One can therefore conclude that in collisions by ownership of the environment, cultural senses are in dispute, guided not only by objective interests, but also by the meanings that different social groups design for the collective construction of the world around them.

A new Brazilian species of Stenochironomus Kieffer mining decayed leaves in bromeliads (Diptera: Chironomidae)

All life stages of Stenochironomus atlanticus Pinho &amp; Mendes sp. n. are described and figured. The larva mines decaying leaves held in the water of several bromeliad species (Canistrum lindenii (Regel) Mez, Neoregelia laevis (Mez) L.B. Smith, Nidularium innocentii Lemaire, Vriesea philippocoburgii Wawra, and Vriesea vagans (L.B. Smith) L.B. Smith.) in the Atlantic Rain Forest in southern Brazil [Desterro Environmental Conservation Unit (Unidade de Conservação Ambiental Desterro – UCAD), Santa Catarina Island]. Stenochironomus atlanticus is the only species in the genus found in the phytotelmata habitat, and it apparently is restricted to this environment.