Protected Areas in the Brazilian Amazon Performance Pressure

Protected Areas in the Brazilian Amazon: Performance, Pressure, and Efficacy Christopher P. Barber Mark A. Cochrane (advisor) Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings SD USA Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia, Belém PA Brazil May 7 th, 2009 NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting New York, NY

Protected Areas of the Brazilian Amazon Full Protection Sustainable Use Total Federal 254, 135 327, 826 581, 961 State 103, 585 331, 912 435, 497 Total 357, 720 659, 738 1, 017, 458 Indigenous Land 961, 887 Total: 1, 831, 775 km 2 Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Research Questions Are Protected Areas in the Amazon Working? Are protected areas preserving the natural forest cover? What levels of risk are protected forests facing? Can we say something about the integrity of remaining forests? Risks? Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Research Questions Advances beyond previous work Accounting for all designated limited-development areas Monitoring over many annual observations (2000 -2008) Use of fine-scale land cover datasets Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Performance, Pressure, & Efficacy Intact Forest Factors of risk Connectivity Elements of Biodiversity Probability of Deforestation Performance Pressure Efficacy Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Preserving Forest Cover? Deforestation as of 2006: 477, 000 km 2 throughout the Amazon (13%) 98 % of protected forests intact Loss of 32, 000 km 2 Deforestation 2000 -2006: 195, 000 km 2 throughout region 8% in protected areas Loss of 15, 000 km 2 Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Roads, Deforestation, & Protected Areas 73, 000 km of official roads in region Distance (km) 1. 0 2. 0 3. 0 4. 0 5. 0 Deforestation 57. 1 % 79. 3 % 88. 2 % 92. 3 % 94. 6 % 85% of all deforestation within 50 km 240, 000 km of unofficial roads Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Roads, Deforestation, & Protected Areas 12% of protected forest within 5 km of road/river: 221, 000 km 2 Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Edge Effects in Protected Forests Cleared in protected areas: ~ 32, 000 km 2 Forest / Deforested edge Forest at 500 m: ~ 43, 000 km 2 100 m Wind throw, increased insolation, desiccation, structural collapse 300 m Compositional shift, loss of biomass, moderate drying 500 m Decreased biodiversity (pollinators & understory birds) 1000+ m Forest at 1000 m: ~ 85, 000 km 2 Increased risk of fire Forest Cover (‘ 06) 300 m Edge 600 m Edge Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Examining the Network Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Examining the Network Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Other indicators of risk Proximity to commercial centers Terrain variables County-level population Fire Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Performance, Pressure, & Efficacy Intact Forest Factors of risk Deforestation Rates Core Forest Probability of Deforestation Performance Pressure Efficacy Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Protected Area Report Card: PARC APA Triunfo do Xingu State managed Environmental Protection Area Total Area: Cleared Area: Core @ 300 m: Core @ 1 km: Accessible: Accessible = 16. 8 k km 2 19. 3 % 81. 7 % 52. 3 % 66. 9 % existing forest within 5 km of road network Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Protected Area Report Card: PARC FLONA Bom Futuro Federal managed National Forest Total Area: Cleared Area: Core @ 300 m: Core @ 1 km: Accessible = 2, 755 km 2 18. 9 % 73. 2 % 34. 2 % 63. 5 % existing forest within 5 km of road network Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Protected Area Report Card: PARC FLORSU Rio S. Domingos State managed Sustained Yield Forest Total Area: 2, 919 km 2 Cleared Area: 65. 2 % Core @ 300 m: 39. 0 % Core @ 1 km: 7. 0 % Accessible: 98. 6 % Accessible = existing forest within 5 km of road network Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Protected Area Report Card: PARC Not all parks are created equal Network comprised of individual parks, or links Some links may be weaker than others Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009

Conclusion Assessments of protected area networks need to move towards comprehensive examinations from a landscape perspective, with frequent monitoring, and occur at scales that match the levels of disturbance Christopher P. Barber, South Dakota State University, christopher. barber@sdstate. edu NASA Biodiversity and Ecological Forecasting Team Meeting, May 7 th 2009