Voluntary preservation on private land in Brazil: characterisation and assessment of the effectiveness of managing private reserves of natural heritage

Resumo

Private reserves complement public efforts to preserve biodiversity. Brazil already has about 1100 private reserves, but there is still a need to gather accurate information on their integrity and management. This study characterises and analyses the effectiveness of managing a set of 34 areas in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The results show that preservation and research are the main objectives for managing these areas, followed by tourism and environmental education. For the group of reserves that were analysed, a rating of 57.6% was obtained. The scopes with the highest ratings were current political and legal uses, and the worst were planning and knowledge. The results showed the importance and comprehensiveness of this initiative in Brazil, but they also reinforced the fact that better management is needed in many of the reserves so that they can adequately meet their initial objectives.