São Paulo – Presented last Tuesday (7th) Brasília, the Brazilian capital, the report “Contribution of Conservation Units to the National Economy” is one of the first studies to show how much money can be made from conservation units. The survey estimates the extraction of wood, rubber and Brazil nut from the Amazon biome may generate revenues ranging from 32.7 billion to 57.7 billion reals (US$ 20.7 billion to US$ 36.5 billion) over 25 years (the concession period provided for by law).
Few, however, make a proft from the conservation unit. According to Helena Pavese, the general coordinator for the survey at the United Nations Development Programme (Undp), this is so because only now the income that can be earned from preservation may bring is becoming evident.
Helena, the environmental policy manager of the organization Conservation International, claims that US$ 36.5 billion is s timid projection considering the financial potential of the conservation units. “The money has not appeared yet, it has not been made evident. The purpose of this survey is to show the value of biodiversity, and hence the importance of conservation,” she says.
But in some instances, profit is already being made, and not only from raw material extraction. According to the technician for planning and research at the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea, in the Portuguese acronym) who participated in the survey, Jorge Hargrave, the profit made from visitation is now greater in regions with large populations, such as the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah).
“The national parks in Foz do Iguaçu [state of Paraná] and Tijuca [state of Rio de Janeiro] are examples. Foz do Iguaçu National Park is the best model of a conservation unit that generates income, because it offers visitors a reasonable structure,” he says. National parks receive tourists, who attract restaurants and lodges and generate income in their surroundings.
In order for Brazil to start making money with the conservation units, says Helena, the units that are created need to be effectively implemented. And this task, she claims, is a very difficult one. According to the report issued last Tuesday, Brazil ranks fourth in the list of countries with the highest number of conservation units, after the United States, Russia and China. Still, it is the country that invests the least in them. “Implementing a conservation unit implies elaborating a handling plan, hold tests to hire civil servants, and allocate resources. The public areas are the government’s responsibility.”
Another example of a conservation unit that already bears fruits is the National Forest of Jamari, in the state of Rondônia. The unit has been privatized to three companies, which may extract seeds, wood and resins from it. According to the survey, the forest may generate up to 2.2 billion reals (US$ 1.4 billion) per year from wood extraction.
The financial potential of Brazil may be even greater than the report shows. This first edition of the survey did not show how much can be earned from fishing, which will be covered in further studies. However, in case the government and the private initiative take too long to evaluate and invest in the potential of the Brazilian coast, they may not earn anything.
According to Helena, in some stretches of the South and Southeast coasts, the amount of fish is in rapid decline due to uncontrolled fishing. “The fish is born, it grows, breeds and dies. But it is being fished before it breeds. The creation of sea conservation units enables the fish to ber replenished,” she says.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
