In global environmental terms, Brazil has an undoubted strategic importance. To evaluate the national capacity to contribute for a better environmental management is not only a relevant task, but presents a number of challenges.
Besides the great territorial dimensions, almost 8.5 million km², Brazilian natural resources are diversified and abundant. Such diversity is expressed through a great variety of climates, from the tropical-wet to semi-arid and tempered, as well soils, geomorphology and vegetation. It also includes the mineral and energy resources, including aluminum ore, gold, iron ore, nickel, and phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum and hydroelectric power. Rich as well in wood, with large areas covered by forests (more than 5 million km²), Brazil has the largest carbon sink of the planet within a country jurisdiction. With eight large hydrographic basins, such as the Amazonas, Tocantins and São Francisco rivers basins, there are water resources in abundance, although they are not always used properly. However, it is inside the Brazilian biodiversity that abundance and diversification express themselves totally. In Brazil, the biological diversity typical from tropical regions is resulted from combinations of many weather conditions. Brazil was defined as the first from the fifteen “megadiverse” countries. This biodiversity is expressed both in genetic terms and at ecosystem level, with a high level of endemism.
From the major Brazilian biomes, the main is Amazon, representing 40% of the tropical forests of the planet, and occupying 47.65% of the Brazilian territory. Although this is the most conserved biome, the speed of its deforestation process increased considerably in the past two years, achieving a level comparable to the one registered in 1995. The second major biome is the Atlantic Forest, which goes from the Southern region to the Northeastern and involves many kinds of ecosystems, such as mangroves, forests and plains. Particularly rich in biodiversity, the Atlantic Forest is the biome that suffered the most from the anthropogenic actions, especially in the 20th century. The native vegetation at present corresponds to 8.75% of its original size. The Cerrado and Pantanal take part of the Central Plateau, and are very fragile biomes, with a high ecological relevance. The Caatinga represents large extensions of semi-arid soil, prone to desertification (loss of productivity due to climate factors and human use). Both Cerrado and Caatinga are endangered biomes. In this last one, 68% of native vegetation was removed. Finally, there are the costal and marine biomes that represent 3.5 million km² over Brazilian jurisdiction, and involve a great variety of ecosystems. Thus, many are the challenges and adversities when trying to reach a satisfactory level of knowledge regarding Brazilian biodiversity, and at the same time, managing its extension and complexity.
These characteristics confirm not only the Brazilian strategic position regarding global environmental issues, as well contribute to the creation of a national identity, representing a promising step for the development of the country.
With a population almost urban, of 178.8 million inhabitants1, spread in five great regions (Northern, Northeastern, Southeastern, Southern and Center-Western), the Federative Republic of Brazil has 26 states and a Federal District. The states are divided in municipalities, which totalize 5,507. The main characteristic of the Brazilian people is the presence of major social, economic, regional, cultural and ethnic contrasts.
With a GDP per capita of US$ 7,360 PPP in 2001 and Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.777, the country was set as 10th place in the group of countries of Mid-term Human Development.2 The longevity and education indexes reached, respectively, 0.71 and 0.90% (2001). In one hand, these indexes could demonstrate better performance, given the high per capita income. In the other hand, they are a result of many development efforts from the last two decades. These efforts embody improvements in the formal education, literacy, polio eradication, expansion of services related to water supply and sanitation, and reduction of child mortality.
However, the income in Brazil is very badly distributed, with a high Gini Index (60.7%, being the sixth place in the Human Development Report 2003). In early 1990s, for instance, the income of a person classified at the 10% wealthier in Brazil was almost thirty times larger than a person classified at the 40% poorer. These income concentration standards were more accentuated during the 1990s. The tendency to economic stagnation, which marked the decade of 1990, followed by a modest growth during the post-stabilization inflationary period, since 1996 has also contributed towards it. Between 1990 and 2001, the economy average real growth did not pass 1.4% a year.3 The growth was took back in 2000, but lost its speed between 2001 and 2003, achieving less than 2% a year, due the deceleration of the major global markets.
According to the Human Development Report 2004, about 9% of the Brazilian population live with less than US$ 1 a day (poverty edge), about 16 million people, and 23.7% with less than US$ 2. 9.3 million families (or 44 million people) were pointed as potential beneficiary of Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) Program, one of the main social programs from the present Government. This group was considered, according to IBGE data, as having enough income to satisfy its basic necessities, including food intake.
The composition of Brazilian’s GDP by sectors shows the importance of industry, commerce and services, which represent together 92% of the total in 2001. Although the agricultural sector contributes to a small part of the total GDP, the agribusiness (including related sectors, as distribution and transportation, expenses, etc.) got a crescent relevance in the Brazilian economy. Agribusiness generates 33% of GDP and its products are responsible for 42% of total exports. Although the grain production growth during the 1990s was achieved by increasing the production, the sector was, at the same time, the main responsible for the increase of Amazon deforesting.4
From a wider perspective, the development process in Brazil, which started in 1930, resulted in deep changes in the scientific, technologic, financial, organizational and production fields. Following the same path, the most recent democratization process, started in the 1980s, changed definitely the social and political structures, and its institutions as well, increasing the politic area. However, adverse poverty and indigence conditions coexist with the complexity of a modern and urban society.
Is observed too, in large tendencies, that demographic, agricultural and urban expansion created a huge impact for important biomes, such as the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado. The most recent occupation process in the Amazon had a considerable environmental impact, creating the necessity of integrating good practices on environmental management with the Brazilian development model.
