Protected areas of Brazil

Tijuca Forest National Park

Protected areas of Brazil included various classes of area according to the National System of Conservation Units, a formal, unified system for federal, state and municipal parks created in 2000.

Types of protected area

Protected areas, also called conservation units, are divided into different categories according to their goals. These are defined by Law No. 9.985 of 18 July 2000, which established the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC). Objectives include conservation of nature, sustainable development, scientific research, education and eco-tourism, Fully protected units are expected to maintain the natural ecosystem without human interference. Sustainable use units allow sustained use of renewable environmental resources, maintaining biodiversity and other ecological attributes.

The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, which administers Federal units, defines the fully protected (proteção integral) classes of unit as:

• Ecological stations (Portuguese: Estações Ecológicas)
• Biological reserves (Portuguese: Reservas Biológicas)
• National parks (Portuguese: Parques Nacionais) and State parks (Portuguese: Parques Estadual)
• Natural monuments (Portuguese: Monumentos Naturais)
• Wildlife refuges (Portuguese: Refúgios de Vida Silvestre)

The sustainable use units are:

• Environment protection areas (Portuguese: Áreas de Proteção Ambiental)
• Areas of relevant ecological interest (Portuguese: Áreas de Relevante Interesse Ecológico)
• National forests (Portuguese: Florestas Nacionais)
• Extractive reserves (Portuguese: Reservas Extrativistas)
• Wildlife reserves (Portuguese: Reservas de Fauna)
• Sustainable development reserves (Portuguese: Reservas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável)
• Private natural heritage reserves (Portuguese: Reservas Particular do Patrimônio Natural)

In addition, some states designate areas as Ecological reserve (Portuguese: Reserva Ecológica).

See also

• List of ecoregions in Brazil