Article 7 of the Convention on Biological Diversity requires each Party to identify the components of biological diversity in that State that are important for conservation and sustainable use. In order to comply with these commitments, from 1997 to 2002, the Ministry of the Environment planned, supported, and coordinated a broad national consultative process that mobilized more than 1,000 specialists from public and private agencies to carry out an “Assessment of Priority Areas and Actions for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in the Brazilian Biomes.” This process included workshops for the Brazilian Amazon, the Cerrado and the Pantanal, the Caatinga, the Atlantic Forest, the Southern Fields, and the Marine and Coastal Zone.
To carry out this project, the MMA entered into agreements with consortia of academic institutions. The overall project was supported by resources from the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The methodology for the assessment involved the identification of priorities of different biological groups that were then superimposed and used to generate priority maps. The different areas were designated as being of extreme importance, very high, high, and insufficiently known area but with probable biological importance. Altogether, 900 areas were singled out. In 2004, a Presidential Decree (No. 5092 of May 21, 2004) and a directive acknowledged these areas and defined rules for their conservation and sustainable use.
These areas now guide the creation of new protected areas, development of projects for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and provide an important instrument in discussions with economic entities to minimize the impacts of infrastructure and energy on biodiversity.
For more information, see http://www.mma.gov.br/port/sbf/index.cfm, or contact maria-carolina.hazin@mma.gov.br or raquel.breda@mma.gov.br