BRAZILIAN / Summary Executive MANGROVES ATlaS BRAZILIANMANGROVES ATlaS BRAZILIANMANGROVES ATlaS Mangroves are one of the most important ecosystems on the planet. With their high productivity, they pro- vide numerous goods and services both to the marine environment and to people. They capture and store carbon in their biomass and soil, reduce the shorelines vulnerability to climate change by reducing the damage of the extreme events and of the rising sea levels, and also prevent erosion, by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root systems. Brazil presents remarkable mangrove conservation efforts, both through the sustainable use by local tradi- tional communities and the protected areas. Neverthe- less, this is not enough yet, particularly due to the high level importance of this ecosystem, which should not be put in danger. The irregular and illegal occupation, the lack of water and sewage treatment system, the changes on rivers and coastlines hydrodynamics, and, mainly, the loss and fragmentation of their vegetation cover are responsible for quality decrease and biodiversity erosion of these ecosys- tems, not to mention the climate changes increasing pres- sures and risks. Therefore, the traditional communities and some economic sectors that depend directly on the mangroves resources are having a hard time to keep their reproduction conditions. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Brazilian mangroves loss is estimated in 25%. Considering the interest in their high level conservation, the situation is more serious in the Northeast and Southeast regions, where the ecosystem is more fragmented. According to a recent estimation, these regions have lost around 40% of what was once a mangrove continuous area. On the other hand, Brazil has 123 protected areas that cover mangroves areas (58 federal, 46 state and 19 mu- nicipal), of which 83% allow sustainable use and 17% are strict preservation areas. All of these PAs together repre- sent 87% of the whole ecosystems coverage in the country. The mangrove conservation is a priority for the Brazil- ian government. Through the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the Ministry of Environment, it was possible to elaborate the national pro- gram for the mangrove conservation and sustainable use. The Brazilian Mangroves Atlas is a milestone for this eco- system conservation. The complete version of the document presents the large territory mapping and a diagnosis of the Brazilian mangroves current situation, with the conservation efforts, main threats and key areas under threat. The document also highlights the need for further conser- vation actions on the north coast of Brazil, once it is acknowl- edged as the largest remain-ing well-conserved continuous mangrove areas. The states that contain the largest mangrove areas are Maranhão (505 thousand hectares) Pará (around 390 thousand ha), and Amapá (226 thousand ha). This document is an English version of an executive www.icmbio. summary that aims to highlight the main points of the gov.br/portal/ Atlas. For more details, it is recommended to consult images/stories/ manguezais/atlas_ the full version (in Portuguese), with references and dos_manguezais_ bibliography, available here: do_brasil.pdf THE BRAZILIAN COASTAL ZONE AND THE MANGROVES 2 The Brazilian coast provides a favorable • Around 14,000 km is the environment for the mangroves to es- mangrove extension in the tablish, develop and maintain. The only Brazilian coast; exception is the coast of Rio Grande do • About 80% of the mangroves Sul, because of the state’s high latitudes are distributed in 3 states of the and its climate conditions. Amazon biome: Maranhão (36%), Pará (28%) and Amapá (16%); • 17 states are on the Brazilian coast, 16 of them with mangrove; • The mangrove area in northern Brazil is the largest continuous • 7,408 km of mangrove extension, portion of the ecosystem under including Fernando de Noronha, as legal protection worldwide. the only oceanic mangrove in the South Atlantic; 6 Adriano Gambarini / WWF-Brazil Mangrove in Verde river, Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, in Brazil 7 Amapá 226,894.81 16.32 Pará 390,589.41 27.92 Maranhão 505,490.12 0.40 Piauí 5,549.86 0.40 RR AP Ceará 19,518.21 1.40 Rio Grande do Norte 13,535.33 0.97 AM PA MA CE RN Paraíba 12,565.22 0.90 PB PI PE Pernambuco 17,172.98 1.23 8 AC AL Alagoas 5,535.27 0.40 TO SE RO BA Sergipe 26,543.63 1.90 MT DF Bahia 89,932.02 0.57 GO MG MANGROVES BY STATE AND ES MS Espírito Santo 7,971.65 0.57 PERCENTAGE IN RELATION TO RJ Rio de Janeiro 13,779.90 0.99 THE TOTAL MANGROVE AREAS SP São Paulo 22,287.26 1.59 PR Paraná 31,199.14 2.23 SC Santa Catarina 10,401.32 0.74 STATE RS AREA (HA) % TOTAL MANGROVE AREAS TOTAL 1,398,966.13 100,00 Clemente Coelho Jr / ICMBio Clemente Coelho Typical mangrove (Avicennia THE MANGROVE FLORA schaueriana mangrove) and marsh In the mangrove, plants demand sun- vegetation (grass Spartina sp.). light (heliophiles), so there are only tree- forming species. They support low con- centrations of oxygen in the sediment, co-exist with salt water (halophyte) and manage to sustain themselves on muddy substrates (poorly consolidated). The aerial structure of mangrove roots, besides serving as a substrate for algae, provides shelter and food for many animals, from fungi and bacteria to larger individuals such as invertebrates, vertebrates and mammals, including the human being. THE MANGROVE FAUNA Unlike the flora, the fauna is not exclu- sive to this ecosystem. Its organisms can survive in other similar habitats, such as estuary, sandbank, rocky shore and even on the beach. Thus, the mangrove eco- system is made up of a complex com- munity, offers several environments for animals and supports the biodiversity in other, particularly marine, ecosystems. The mangrove has fauna representatives of terrestrial, marine and estuarine environments that, Capuchin Monkey, together with the flora species, make Swamp Ghost Crab up the biodiversity of the ecosystem. and White Egret. 9 MANGROVES AND PROTECTED AREAS Protected areas are territorial spaces, Mangroves can be found including their natural resources, in 123 protected areas; with relevant natural characteristics, which have the function to ensure • Area: 16,385 km2; the representation of significant and • 87% of the ecosystem in Brazil; ecologically viable samples of the different populations, habitats and • 58 federal, 46 state and ecosystems of the national territory 22 municipal MPAs; and jurisdictional waters, preserving • 7% are strict preservation areas; the existing biological heritage. In some cases, the sustainable use • 83% are Marine Protected Areas reserves have objectives to assure the that allow sustainable use. conditions for sustainable development of local traditional communities. EXTRACTIVE RESERVES The Brazilian protected areas These category VI protected areas are categories are organized in two used by traditional communities whose groups: strict preservation areas and subsistence is based on the extractiv- sustainable use reserves. The first ism, subsistence farming and small ones aim to protect nature, allowing animal husbandry. The creation of only the indirect use of the natural extractive reserves aims to protect the resources, which does not involve livelihoods and culture of these popula- consumption, collection or damage tions, focusing on the sustainable use to natural resources. of natural resources. Extractive reserves The sustainable use aims to rec- are de facto co-managed by non-indig- oncile nature conservation with the enous traditional communities, with sustainable use of natural resources. important possibilities to strengthen In this group, activities involving conservation conditions and innovate the collection and use of natural on management schemes. resources are permitted, provided that they are practiced in a way that ENVIRONMENTAL ensures the sustainability of renew- PROTECTION AREAS able environmental resources and They are generally large extensions ecological processes. containing a certain degree of human occupation, as well as biotic, abiotic, aesthetic or cultural attributes, all important to the quality of life and well-being of human populations. They are classified as a category V – protected landscape/ seascape, accord- ing the IUCN system. The objective of this category is to protect biological diversity, to discipline the process of occupation, to promote a sustainable 10 land and natural resources use. It is As sustainable use reserves are often up to the managing body to establish large and require a zoning process, the conditions for research and public visitation in these areas. The they are particularly conducive to the category is intrinsically linked to ter- conservation of mangroves, one of the ritorial planning and should restrict most productive and rich ecosystems in the development of potentially harm- ful activities to the environment the world, a place that promotes a social, through the zoning of its territory. cultural and economic relationship between the nature and humans. MAP OF MANGROVES AND PROTECTED AREAS IN BRAZIL 60°W 45°W ´ RR AP ° ° 0 0 AM PA MA CE RN PB PI PE AC AL TO SE RO BA MT S S ° ° 5 5 1 1 DF GO MG ES MS SP RJ PR SC S S ° RS ° 0 MMangrovesanguezais 0 3 3 FederalUCs Fede PAsrais UStateCs E sPAstaduais MunicipalUCs Munici pPAsais 0 250 500 km Limites Estaduais State Borders SiEstserim, Dae dLeo rCmoeo, GrdEeBnCadOa, sN GOAeoAg NráGfDicCa,s a Dnda touthme rS ciorngtarisb u2t0o0rs0 60°W 45°W Geographic Coordinates System Datum Sirgas 2000. SOURCE: IBAMA, IBGE, ICMBio, MMA. - Brazilian Mangroves Atlas. 11 Wigold B. Schäffer / ICMBio Cassurubá (BA) Extractive Reserve. THREATS TO MANGROVES Despite their importance, mangroves grove complex of ecosystems, but, are vulnerable to a number of anthro- following the current legal conditions, pogenic threats, including climate parts of the mangroves are less le- changes. They worsen the stress condi- gally protected than others.