CONSERVATION THREATS


While Brazil is

acclaimed as

probably the most

biologically diverse

country in the

world, its vast

natural wealth is

constantly under

threat.

the map of Brazil

W


hile Brazil is acclaimed as probably the most biologically diverse country in the world, its vast natural wealth is constantly under threat. The Atlantic Forest, which once stretched along the entire Atlantic coast of Brazil and as far inland as eastern Paraguay and Argentina, was decimated when the area was colonized and transformed into the country's main agricultural and industrial base. It has also become the main population centre with huge cities like Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Today less than 10 per cent of the original forest remains and less than one per cent of this is pristine. These scattered forest remnants are crucial for watershed protection, prevention of soil erosion, and conservation of rare species - many found only in this region. Although much of the remaining forest is now inside protected areas, these are not effectively protected or controlled. Brush and forest fires, road construction, tree cutting, and uncontrolled tourism are major threats.


Deforestation remains a constant problem in the vast Amazon region. Slash and burn, shifting agriculture, and logging destroy up to 76,800km2 of tropical forest each year, while mining for gold displaces forest people from their land and poisons watersheds with mercury. Elsewhere, unsustainable ranching and farming continue, and commercial logging is expected to increase when timber stocks from Asia are exhausted.


The Pantanal - a vast inland delta formed by the Paraguay, Paraná and La Plata Rivers - is vulnerable to the effects of deforestation, siltation due to gold mining activities, and pollution from agricultural chemicals and gold mining. A far bigger threat is the plan to construct the Hydrovia - a massive waterway transport system linking Porto Cáceres in Brazil to Puerto Nueva Palmira in Uruguay. The multinational project, involving the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, envisages draining about 1.75 million km2 of land. The Pantanal is famous for its large bird population and scientists fear the scheme will affect not only the hydrology but also the ecology of the entire region through dredging and channelization.


The rich savannahs of the Cerrado region in central Brazil were largely untouched until just over a decade ago. Since then, the Cerrado has become Brazil's new agricultural frontier as immigrants from the south have occupied and cleared vast areas to cultivate soybean and other export­crops. Destruction rates reputedly higher than those in Amazonia threaten many of the Cerrado's unique forests. Deforestation and intensive agriculture in the Cerrado also pose a threat to other ecological regions in Brazil because the headwaters and tributaries of the country's major watersheds - the Amazon, Paraná, Paraguay and São Francisco - all lie within the Cerrado.


Elsewhere, Brazil's coastal and marine environments are threatened by the effects of overpopulation and agricultural and industrial development. Most of Brazil's major cities and more than half its population live along or near the 7,400km2 coastline. Petrochemical complexes and paper mills dotted along the coast contribute to coastal pollution. Other threats to delicate ecosystems include land speculation, road construction, landfill operations, and destructive fishing practices.


Although Brazil has some of the most progressive environmental legislation in the world, this has proved ineffective in halting environmental destruction. The problems include a shortage of law enforcement personnel, the difficulty in monitoring vast, inaccessible and remote areas, and the lack of regulations to implement legal measures. To make matters worse, few of the legally established protected areas are adequately managed or guarded.




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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature