Manaus – Following announcements by the Brazilian federal government and the São Paulo state government, the state of Amazonas is preparing a tender for concession of conservation units to private enterprises. Four to six areas will be tendered, mostly for tapping into the tourism potential generated by Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The state capital Manaus will host four World Cup matches. The concessions should be located along the banks of the Negro RIver. According to the general coordinator Amazonas Conservation Units, Sérgio Gonçalves, the first draft of the edict is completed, but the government has not defined which units will be tendered.
The concessions will inaugurate a new phase in the state of Amazonas’ conservation unit policy. After having established full protection and sustainable usage areas in the last two decades, the government is now announcing that it intends to improve logistics at the units. “We will take a hiatus from creating [new units] and focus on operating conditions instead,” says Sérgio Gonçalves, referring to the need for sustainable usage areas to have management plans covering local communities, supervision and income-generating activities.
The 41 conservation units in the state of Amazonas comprise 18.8 million hectares. Another 23.4 million hectares are part of federal conservation units, and 43,19 million hectares are Indian reservations. There are a total of over 85 million hectares of protected land in Amazonas (more than 54% of the state’s area).
The tourism concession proposal has been discussed by 350 civil society representatives, and will be discussed by the government at a public hearing in Manaus next Friday (11th). Early next year, following its discussion, the bill will be forwarded to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Amazonas.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
