10.2.3 Marine Spatial Planning of the Brazilian Blue
Amazon
In Brazil, the conservation of living marine organisms via MPAs is regulated by the
Conservation Units Act, no. 9.985/00, and implemented under the National Plan for
Protected Areas (PNAP).
97 On the one hand, the Conservation Units Act organizes
protected areas in two main axes: of integral protection—the so-called “no-touch”
areas, and units of sustainable use, in which exploitation is allowed as long as it
respects ecological processes and maintains biodiversity levels. On the other hand,
the National Plan emphasizes the objective to “assess the representativeness of
existing conservation units between continental and marine biomes”, pursuant to
Art. 3 (1) (II).
98 In line with the Plan, public policies should aim at ensuring the
maintenance of marine ecosystems’ connectedness via designating networks of
coastal and marine protected areas. For that to occur, a mandatory step is to define
the scale and conceptual treatment of the “separation” between coastal and marine
environments, in order to optimize the creation and effectiveness of maritime
conservation units.
To that end, diverse initiatives for the constitution of “mosaics” of coastal and
marine conservation units have been carried, with the federal government acting to
support and articulate the execution of activities related to these initiatives, so as to
spread the perception of conservation units as an instrument of fisheries management. The first coastal and marine mosaic was formally recognized by MMA
Ordinance no. 150/2006, which included 33 conservation units of Atlantic forest
and coastal and marine zones to the South of São Paulo. Iconic conservation units in
the south of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, such as Abrolhos, have also been designated
since then.
Currently, there are approximately 338 coastal and marine protected areas covering approximately 25% of the Brazilian Blue Amazon. Those impressive numbers
mean that the country has achieved the goal set forth at the end of the 10th
Conference of the Parties to the CBD: the Aichi Targets.
99 A few reasons have
influenced the designation of that many MPAs within the Brazilian Blue Amazon.
Firstly, there was a favorable domestic political scenario for the creation of protected
97 The National Plan for Protected Areas was enacted domestically following the 7th Conference of
the Parties to the CBD, in 2004, Malaysia.
98 According to the 2006 Conservation Units Plan, protected areas are “natural and semi-natural
areas defined geographically, regulated, and managed with objectives of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity”, while ecosystems consist of a “dynamic complex of plant, animal and
microorganism communities and their inorganic environment that interact as a functional unit”.
99 The initial Aichi Target 11 for marine biodiversity was to have 10% of national maritime spaces
formally protected by some sort of area-based tool by 2020, thus having marine resources “conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected
systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into
the wider landscapes and seascapes”. See 10th Conference of the Parties, CBD, Decision X/2, 18 to
29 October 2010, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
330
10 Brazilian Legal Framework Applicable to the Blue Amazon’s...
Amazon
In Brazil, the conservation of living marine organisms via MPAs is regulated by the
Conservation Units Act, no. 9.985/00, and implemented under the National Plan for
Protected Areas (PNAP).
97 On the one hand, the Conservation Units Act organizes
protected areas in two main axes: of integral protection—the so-called “no-touch”
areas, and units of sustainable use, in which exploitation is allowed as long as it
respects ecological processes and maintains biodiversity levels. On the other hand,
the National Plan emphasizes the objective to “assess the representativeness of
existing conservation units between continental and marine biomes”, pursuant to
Art. 3 (1) (II).
98 In line with the Plan, public policies should aim at ensuring the
maintenance of marine ecosystems’ connectedness via designating networks of
coastal and marine protected areas. For that to occur, a mandatory step is to define
the scale and conceptual treatment of the “separation” between coastal and marine
environments, in order to optimize the creation and effectiveness of maritime
conservation units.
To that end, diverse initiatives for the constitution of “mosaics” of coastal and
marine conservation units have been carried, with the federal government acting to
support and articulate the execution of activities related to these initiatives, so as to
spread the perception of conservation units as an instrument of fisheries management. The first coastal and marine mosaic was formally recognized by MMA
Ordinance no. 150/2006, which included 33 conservation units of Atlantic forest
and coastal and marine zones to the South of São Paulo. Iconic conservation units in
the south of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, such as Abrolhos, have also been designated
since then.
Currently, there are approximately 338 coastal and marine protected areas covering approximately 25% of the Brazilian Blue Amazon. Those impressive numbers
mean that the country has achieved the goal set forth at the end of the 10th
Conference of the Parties to the CBD: the Aichi Targets.
99 A few reasons have
influenced the designation of that many MPAs within the Brazilian Blue Amazon.
Firstly, there was a favorable domestic political scenario for the creation of protected
97 The National Plan for Protected Areas was enacted domestically following the 7th Conference of
the Parties to the CBD, in 2004, Malaysia.
98 According to the 2006 Conservation Units Plan, protected areas are “natural and semi-natural
areas defined geographically, regulated, and managed with objectives of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity”, while ecosystems consist of a “dynamic complex of plant, animal and
microorganism communities and their inorganic environment that interact as a functional unit”.
99 The initial Aichi Target 11 for marine biodiversity was to have 10% of national maritime spaces
formally protected by some sort of area-based tool by 2020, thus having marine resources “conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected
systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into
the wider landscapes and seascapes”. See 10th Conference of the Parties, CBD, Decision X/2, 18 to
29 October 2010, in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
330
10 Brazilian Legal Framework Applicable to the Blue Amazon’s...