Environmental protection area (Brazil)

An environmental protection area is a type of protected area in Brazil that has some degree of human occupation, but where the primary intent is environmental protection. Human occupation is monitored and controlled. An environmental protection area often contains other types of conservation units, which may be more strictly protected.

Definition

Environmental protection areas are defined as part of the National System of Conservation Units regulated by Law 9985 of 18 July 2000.
They are one of the types of sustainable use units, which try to reconcile conservation of nature with sustainable use of some natural resources.
Other types of sustainable use unit are significant ecological interest area, national forest, extractive reserve, fauna reserve, sustainable development reserve, and natural heritage particular reserve.
As of 1993 APAs were defined as areas where wildlife, genetic diversity and other natural resources were to be conserved through adequate and sustainable use for the benefit of the local population, following a management plan to harmonise the various human activities.
The APA was the closest concept to the Biosphere Reserve in Brazilian law, the main difference being that a strictly protected core zone was not required.
However, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources was drawing up new definitions that would include the requirement for core zones in APAs.
An APA may be public or private.
Its main goal is to protect areas that are important to the well being and quality of life of humans through protecting biodiversity.
Often they cover huge areas, with no buffer zone between the APA and unprotected areas.
They fall under IUCN [protected area categories|IUCN protected area category] V: protected landscape/seascape.
As of 2015 APAs accounted for 30% of protected areas.
APA coverage in Brazil was:

Federal:
State:
Municipal:

Environmental protection areas have a certain amount of human occupation, and may have environmental aspects that are important for aesthetic or cultural reasons to human populations.
An APA does not require that land be expropriated, but does impose specific requirements on land use.
An APA may contain other types of protected area, and must have a wildlife conservation area.
Federal APAs are administered by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation.
The APA concept is derived from the Portuguese concept of Parques Naturais, which in turn is derived from the French concept of Parcs Naturels Régionaux.
This has resulted in some inconsistencies with Brazilian law, which has caused some criticism.

Selected list

Environmentally protected areas include:

Name	Level	State	Area	Created	Biome
Algodoal-Maiandeua	State	Pará	2,378	1990
Anhatomirim	Federal	Santa Catarina	4,437	1992	Atlantic Forest
Baía de Camamu	State	Bahia	118,000	2002	Atlantic Forest
Bacia dos Frades	State	Rio de Janeiro	7,500	1990	Atlantic Forest
Bacia do Rio Macacu	State	Rio de Janeiro	19,508	2002	Atlantic Forest
Baixada Maranhense	State	Maranhão	1,775,040	1991	Amazon
Baixo Rio Branco	State	Roraima	1,207,650	2006
Baleia Franca	Federal	Santa Catarina	156,100	2000
Barra do Rio Mamanguape	Federal	Paraíba	14,640	1993	Coastal marine
Cabeceiras do Rio Cuiabá	State	Mato Grosso	473,411	1999
Cairuçu	Federal	Rio de Janeiro	32,610	1983	Atlantic Forest
Cajati	State	São Paulo	2,976	2008	Atlantic Forest
Caminhos Ecológicos de Boa Esperança	State	Bahia	230,296	2003	Atlantic Forest
Campos do Jordão	State	São Paulo	28,800	1984	Atlantic Forest
Campos de Manicoré	Federal	Amazonas	151,993	2016	Amazon
Cananéia-Iguape-Peruíbe	Federal	São Paulo	202,307	1984	Atlantic Forest
Carste de Lagoa	Federal	Minas Gerais	39,957	1990	Cerrado
Caverna do Maroaga	State	Amazonas	374,700	1990	Amazon
Cavernas do Peruaçu	Federal	Minas Gerais	143,354	1989	Cerrado
Chapada do Araripe	Federal	Piauí Ceará Pernambuco	1,063,000	1997
Chapada dos Guimarães	State	Mato Grosso	251,848	1995
Costa das Algas	Federal	Espírito Santo	112,545	2010	Atlantic Forest
Costa dos Corais	Federal	Pernambuco Alagoas	413,563	1997
Curiaú	State	Amapá	23,000	1998
Delta do Parnaíba	Federal	Maranhão Piauí Ceará	313,800	1996
Descoberto River Basin	Federal	Federal District	41,064	1983	Cerrado
Fazendinha	State	Amapá	137	2004
Fernando de Noronha	Federal	Pernambuco	93,000	1986	Coastal marine
Fernão Dias	State	Minas Gerais	180,073	1997	Atlantic Forest
Floresta do Jacarandá	State	Rio de Janeiro	2,700	1985	Atlantic Forest
Foz do Rio Santa Teresa	State	Tocantins	50,784	1997
Guajuma	State	Amazonas	28,370	1989	Amazon
Guapi-Guapiaçu	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	15,538	2004	Atlantic Forest
Guapimirim	Federal	Rio de Janeiro	13,926	1984	Coastal marine
Guaraqueçaba	Federal	Paraná	282,444	1985	Atlantic Forest
Guaratuba	State	Paraná	200,000	1992	Atlantic Forest
Ibirapuitã	Federal	Rio Grande do Sul	316,790	1992	Pampas
Igarapé Gelado	Federal	Pará	23,285	1989	Amazon
Igarapé São Francisco	State	Acre	30,000	2005
Ilha do Bananal / Cantão	State	Tocantins	1,678,000	1997	Amazon / Cerrado
Ilha do Combu	State	Pará	1,500	1997
Ilha Comprida	State	São Paulo	17,572	1987	Atlantic Forest
Ilhas e Várzeas do Rio Paraná	Federal	São Paulo Paraná Mato Grosso do Sul	1,003,060	1997
Itapiracó	State	Maranhão	322	1997
Jalapão	State	Tocantins	461,730	2000
Lago de Palmas	State	Tocantins	50,370	1999
Lago de Peixe Angical	State	Tocantins	78,874	2002
Lago de Santa Isabel	State	Tocantins	18,608	2002
Lago de São Salvador etc.	State	Tocantins	14,525	2002
Lago de Tucuruí	State	Pará	568,667	2002
Lago do Amapá	State	Acre	5,224	2005
Lagoa Encantada e Rio Almada	State	Bahia	157,745	1993	Atlantic Forest
Lagoa da Jansen	State	Maranhão	196	1988
Leandro	State	Tocantins	1,678,000	1997
Macaé de Cima	State	Rio de Janeiro	35,037		Atlantic Forest
Mananciais do Rio Paraíba do Sul	Federal	São Paulo	292,000	1982	Atlantic Forest
Marajó Archipelago	State	Pará	5,998,570	1989	Coastal marine
Maravilha	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	1,700	2006	Atlantic Forest
Meandros do Rio Araguaia	Federal	Tocantins Mato Grosso Goiás	357,126	1998
Metropolitana de Belém	State	Pará	7,500	1993
Morro da Pedreira	Federal	Minas Gerais	131,769	1990	Cerrado
Nascentes de Araguaína	State	Tocantins	15,822	1999
Nascentes do Rio Paraguai	State	Mato Grosso	77,743	2006
Nascentes do Rio Vermelho	Federal	Goiás	176,159	2001
Nhamundá	State	Amazonas	195,900	1990
Paraty Bay	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	5,642	1984	Coastal Marine
Paytuna	State	Pará	58,251	2001
Pé da Serra Azul	State	Mato Grosso	7,980	1994
Petrópolis	Federal	Rio de Janeiro	68,224	1982	Atlantic Forest
Piaçabuçu	Federal	Alagoas	9,106	1983	Coastal marine
Planalto Central	Federal	Goiás Federal District	504,608	2002
Planalto do Turvo	State	São Paulo	2,722	2008	Atlantic Forest
Quilombos do Médio Ribeira	State	São Paulo	64,625	2008	Atlantic Forest
Reentrâncias Maranhenses	State	Maranhão	2,680,910	1991
Região de Maracanã	State	Maranhão	1,831	1991
Rio da Casca	State	Mato Grosso	39,250	1994
Rio Curiaú	State	Amapá	21,676	1992	Amazon
Rio Madeira	State	Rondônia	5,554	1991	Amazon
Rio Negro Left Bank	State	Amazonas	611,008	1995	Amazon
Rio Negro Right Bank	State	Amazonas	461,741	1995	Amazon
Rio Pardinho e Rio Vermelho	State	São Paulo	3,235	2008	Atlantic Forest
Rio Pardo	State	Rondônia	144,417	2010
Rio Paraíba do Sul	Federal	São Paulo		1982
Rio São Pedro de Jaceruba	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	2,474		Atlantic Forest
Salto Magessi	State	Mato Grosso	7,846	2002
Santa Rosa	State	Mato Grosso	313,467	2013
São Bartolomeu River Basin	Federal	Federal District	82,680	1983	Cerrado
São Francisco Xavier	State	São Paulo	11,559	2002	Atlantic Forest
São Geraldo do Araguaia	State	Pará	29,655	1996
São João/Mico-Leão-Dourado River Basin	Federal	Rio de Janeiro	150,700	2002
Sapucaí Mirim	State	São Paulo	39,800	1998	Atlantic Forest
Serra Branca / Raso da Catarina	State	Bahia	67,234	2001	Caatinga
Serra da Ibiapaba	Federal	Piauí Ceará	1,592,550	1996
Serra da Mantiqueira	Federal	Minas Gerais Rio de Janeiro São Paulo	421,804	1982	Atlantic Forest
Serra do Mar	State	São Paulo	488,865	1984	Atlantic Forest
Serra da Meruoca	Federal	Ceará	608	2008
Serra de Tabatinga	Federal	Tocantins	35,185	1990	Cerrado
Serra do Lajeado	State	Tocantins	121,416	1997
Serrinha do Alambari	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	5,760	1991	Atlantic Forest
Suruí	Municipal	Rio de Janeiro	14,146	2007	Atlantic Forest
Tapajós	Federal	Pará	2,039,581	2006
Triunfo do Xingu	State	Pará	1,679,281	2006
Upaon-Açu/Miritiba/Alto Preguiças	State	Maranhão	1,535,310	1992