Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity

through Information Management

Mercedes Bustamante

Departamento de Políticas e Programas Temáticos Secretaria de Políticas e Programas de Pesquisa e

Desenvolvimento

Recife, 2012

The great acceleration – a planet under pressure

Steffen et al, 2004

The increasing rates of change in human activity since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Significant increases in rates of change occur around the1950s in each case. Past 50 years have been a period of dramatic and unprecedented change in human history.

Planetary response

Steffen et al, 2004

The Economist, 2011

Human changes/thresholds to the Earth system Implications for global and regional sustainability

Beyond the boundaries Inner green shading:

safe operating space

Boundaries have already been exceeded!

Red wedges: current

position of each variable climate change

Rockstrom, 2009

Land use changes in the tropics

• During the 1980-2000 period:

• > 50% of the new agricultural land across the tropics came at the expense of intact forests

• 28% came from disturbed forests

1973

1991 1999 1973

Deforestation From local to global...

• Concerns about ecosystem services and biodiversity, globally

• High rates of tropical deforestation have severe consequences

• Deforestation is a significant driver of global environmental change

What is behind deforestation?

• An intricate set of social, economic and political realities = multi-dimensional phenomenon.

• Most of the causes do not operate at the forest level

(Geist and Lambin, 2002)

Latin America and environmental changes

• The region is a key player in the global arena for both conservation and economic progress.

Recent changes in Latin America

• The relatively political stability LA has been experiencing in the last decades has allowed for unprecedented economic growth in the region.

• The downside of this development:

rapid and intense loss of natural habitats due to biomass burning and land conversion, especially in its tropical zone,

coupled with a persistent and pervasive social inequality.

% Remaining Foresta Area in Latin America

Largest continuous area of tropical forests

unpolluted temperate forests

Large areas of savannas

The diversity of landscapes creates a myriad of habitats and biodiversity

Extremely high diversity of climate zones due to: its wide latitudinal (and temperature) range contrasting precipitation gradients due to the presence of the

Andes mountain range.

Megadiverse countries

Six countries in Latin

America

Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the greatest biological diversity on the planet: 50% of the world’s tropical forests 33% of its total mammals 35% of its reptilian species 41% of its birds 50% of its amphibians

Biodiversity hotspots in LA high levels of endemisms and rapid loss of habitast

Cerrado e Mata Atlântica

Pain

el B

rasi

leir

o d

e M

ud

an

ças

Cli

máti

cas Land use changes in the

Brazilian Biomes

Amazônia

Cerrado

Caatinga

Pantanal

Mata Atlântica

Pampa

1 Base MMA / PROBIO 2002 (Revisto com base em 2008 / IBAMA)

2 MCT, 2010, Relatório de Referência, emissões de gases de efeito estufa no setor uso da terra, mudança do uso da terra e florestas. 3 Leite et al., 2012, Historical land use change and associated carbon emissions in Brazil from 1940 to 1995, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, vol. 26

- Conversão uso da terra 1

- Estoque de Carbono 2

- Emissões de CO2 2, 3

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

4.221.887

Área convertida

(km2)

588.000

Área convertida

(%)

14%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

68,4

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

22,56 ± 6,9

Amazônia

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

2.051.776

Área convertida

(km2)

971.373

Área convertida

(%)

47%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

21,3

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

20,36 ± 9,9

Cerrado

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

1.116.330

Área convertida

(km2)

968.000

Área convertida

(%)

88%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

17,6

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

27,76 ± 15

Mata Atlântica

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

850.809

Área convertida

(km2)

375.116

Área convertida

(%)

44%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

6,5

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

1,07 ± 0,44

Caatinga

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

177.824

Área convertida

(km2)

105.000

Área convertida

(%)

59%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

1,3

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

0,438 ± 0,25

Pampa Pantanal

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

151.486

Área convertida

(km2)

22.971

Área convertida

(%)

15%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

0,65

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

1 ± 0,47

TOTAL

Área original

(km2) - IBGE

8.570.112

Área convertida

(km2)

3.030.460

Área convertida

(%)

35%

Estoque de C no

bioma original

(Pg C)

115,75

Emissão líquida

(Pg CO2)

Total 1940 - 2002

73,188 ± 33

% of Area of Brazilian Biomes in Conservation Units

9,8%

1,1% 3,1% 2,3%

0,9% 2,9%

0,1%

16,6%

6,4% 5,1% 7,3%

2,4% 1,5%

1,4%

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

25,0%

30,0%

Amazônia Caatinga Cerrado Mata Atlântica

Pampa Pantanal Área Marinha

% d

a ár

ea d

o b

iom

a em

UC

Proteção Integral Uso Sustentável

Brazil - Land tenure structure

Number of rural properties

Total area of rural properties

Forest cover in rural landholdings Forestry legislation required for Cerrado:

Legal Reserve (RL).

• 20-35% of the private landholding area with native vegetation cover

AND

Areas of Permanent Preservation (APPs)

• Landholders must protect the natural vegetation in areas =>

• Avoid risk of erosion

• Protect headwaters and water bodies

Official authorization to convert forests outside RL and APPs

• Within % permitted by law and mandatory

Brazil - land tenure and conservation Need to involve the private sector

• A landscape strategy involving public protected and rural properties allows the insertion of new stakeholders (landholders) and is most effective for climate protection, conservation of natural resources and biodiversity.

Deforestation rates in the Cerrado • Deforestation in the Cerrado is more

severe than in Amazonia.

• Main driver= agricultural expansion

• 2002-2008 deforestation (% of the area of the biome) – Amazon = 3.2%

– Cerrado = 4.1%

• Remaining original forested

area: – Amazon = 82%

– Cerrado = 52%

Remaining Cerrado

Total deforestation

by 2008 = 48.2%

Cerrado deforestation and Biodiversity

• Cerrado - last 40 years = intense fragmentation of habitats

• Difficulties for dispersal of species to reach areas with more favorable climates through the agricultural matrix.

Loss of habitas + Climate change + small area protected

= Significant changes in species distribution and abundance

Remaining Cerrado

Total deforestation

by 2008 = 48.2%

Three regional centers of biodiversity in the Cerrado (sensu Castro 1994) : 1. Southeastern Cerrado 2. Northeastern Cerrado 3. Central Cerrado

The differences in plant composition could be related to:

1. Polygon of drought (15oS 45oW)

2. Polygon of frost (latitude 20oS)

3. Different altitudinal ranges (around 400 to 500 meters or 900 to 1,000 meters).

Main centers of biodiversity x projections of climate change

Expected climate changes for the Cerrado and distribution of the main centers of biodiversity in the Cerrado

Remaining Cerrado

Total deforestation by

2008 = 48.2%

Indication that the Northeastern Cerrado will be more severely affected.

Vulnerability of biodiversity

• Habitat fragmentation limits many species to relatively small areas within their original distribution areas, resulting in reduction of genetic variability.

• The biodiversity loss may affect goods and services that are crucial for the human well-being.

Ecosystem Services as provided by the diversity of life on earth

Support services

nutrients cycling primary production soils formation

Supply services

food clean water wood and fibers fuel clean air medicaments

Regulatory services

climate regulation floods regulation disease regulation water purification

Cultural services

aesthetic cultural recreational spiritual

Ecosystem services Provided by the diversity of life on the Earth

Adapted from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005.

Reality facing Brazil over the coming decades…

•= a set of competing land uses.

•Pressures will grow to provide

more people with food, fuel, and

fiber.

• Interactions between local and

global environmental changes

Central questions of Ecology as science

• What are the patterns and processes that regulate the distribution of species and their abundance?

• What are the effects of biological diversity on the ecosystems functioning?

Today, the answers present important implications for the society.

Interconnected issues require interconnected solutions

Global Biodiversity Outlook

“Well targeted policies, with focus on critical areas, species and ecosystem services, may contribute to avoid the most damaging impacts on individuals and societies. To avoid any additional men-induced biodiversity loss in the close future will be a big challenge.”

Global Biodiversity Outlook

What is needed...

1. To establish a research agenda emphasizing the complex, and coupled, socio-ecological dimensions of environmental changes.

2. To identify and produce detailed spatial information in order to support regionally appropriate policies.

Role of the Science, Technology & Innovation (S,T&I) system

• Expansion, systematization and organization of knowledge about biodiversity of flora, fauna and microorganisms

Regional Demands

• Land cover and use dynamics, biodiversity - monitoring

• Impacts and strategies of landscape planning and zoning

• Uses of natural resources and economic evaluation

• Models of restoration of degraded ecosystems

• Dissemination of sustainable technologies

Biomass distribution Areas for conservation

Figure Ferreira and Bustamante

Watersheds and hydroeletric plants

Land use

Warming temperatures (as of 2012)

A1B, A2: A (late 20th-century) 1-in-20 year hottest day is likely to become a 1-in-2

year event by the end of the 21st century in most regions, except in the high latitudes

of the Northern Hemisphere, where it is likely to become a 1-in-5 year event

Climate Change - Adaptation

• Greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase

• The planet is warming

• Mitigate, Adapt or Suffer…

• Adaptation to current climate variability is inadequate > ‘Adaptation Gap’

• Some barriers to adaptation planning:

• Lack of information at relevant scales

• Uncertainty in available information

• Lack of useful information

Slide from D. Liverman

Ecosystem-Based Adaptation: integrated strategies to protect people and nature

Use nature to protect people & sustain ecosystem services & social

systems

Protect nature from adverse

impacts

Wetlands for flood control Fire-adapted forests to protect homes Recharge areas for water supply Soil fertility for agriculture

Forests Grasslands Wetlands Streams & rivers Plants & animals

Need for mitigation and adaptation

• Policies to address mitigation and adaptation arise in the

context of many different forms of uncertainty.

• As such, the pervasive uncertainties put a

premium on policy strategies that are robust

over many criteria and able to respond to

unexpected events.

Slide from R. Schaeffer

Future South-South trade 10 fold increase in the next 40 years

45

China export growth to 2050

46

Source: HSBC report – the thicker the arrow, the bigger the increase

Brazil export growth to 2050

47

Source: HSBC report – the thicker the arrow, the bigger the increase

India export growth to 2050

48

Source: HSBC report – the thicker the arrow, the bigger the increase

Growing economic ties between emerging countries could reshape the globe...

1. Land use changes and accelerated urbanization

2. Large scale redistribution of nutrients and other resources

3. Biodiversity perspective = largest reservoirs of diversity

– Species richness declines more rapid from the equator in the northern than in the southern hemisphere

49

Trading up...Consequences

• How much do we know about the biophysical and ecological functioning of these ecosystems?

• How will these rapid changes impact regional and global processes?

• How can we avoid or mitigate damages through new development pathways?

50

Biodiversity - Where to from now?

• Drivers of diversity loss are known ...

1. How to prioritize what we still have to know?

2. How the knowledge already established can be used to design efficient and effective strategies / policies for conservation and use of biodiversity?

3. How to address mitigation and adaptation to environmental changes?

Coordination of policies

• Improvement of information systems and applications in decision making

• Coordination of policies for leverage sustainable development +

In the last years, important cultural and political changes related to information

access and data management

Public access to data on deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon

Before PPCDAm After PPCDAm GDP (US$)

Def

ore

stat

ion

km

2/

yr

Deforestation

downward trend

Increased participation of scientists, civil society, NGOs and media in the debate on deforestation =

empowerment

Network • Number of integrated biological collections and sub-

collections: 281

• Estimated content of 16.3 Million registries - out of which 5.553.786 registries online (approximately 570 000 registries refer to the repatriated data from 5 collections abroad)

• Number of observed data collections: 10

(333.635 registries online)

• Images of samples in herbaria available online: 120.740

• Catalogues/Lists: List of Flora (42.937 species – dynamic update), Catalogue of Moure Bees (last update 2008)

• Various web services, applications and tools

Center of Reference in Environmental Information (CRIA) http://www.cria.org.br

North: 750.773 reg

(0,1949 reg/km2)

Northeast: 1.039.466 reg

(0,6680 reg/km2)

Mid-West: 480.796 reg

(0,2996 reg/km2)

South: 861.206 reg

(1,4969 reg/km2)

Southeast: 1.664.725 reg

(1,7953 reg/km2)

Source: Species Link

Law on access to public information

• On November 18, 2011, President Dilma Rousseff signed a law on access to public information (Law No. 12.527/2011).

• On May 16, 2012, the decree regulating the Law (7.724/2012) was signed.

Publication policies on data sets

• A condition of publication in a Nature journal is that authors are required to make materials, data and associated protocols promptly available to others without preconditions.

• Data sets must be made freely available to readers from the date of publication, and must be provided to editors and peer-reviewers at submission, for the purposes of evaluating the manuscript.

• For the following types of data set, submission to a community-endorsed, public repository is mandatory. Accession numbers must be provided in the paper.

Data archiving gives a high return on investment

• Source: Piwowar, HA, Vision, TJ, & Whitlock, MC (2011). Data archiving is a good investment Nature, 473 (7347), 285-285 DOI: 10.1038/473285a

• Ongoing financial investment in data-archiving infrastructure yields an impressive scientific return.

• Public data archiving can generate important new results for a small fraction of the currently accepted cost of doing science.

• To maximize the impact of the support they provide to individual investigators, research funders should include the maintenance of data archives as an integral component of their investment portfolios.

Reuse of datasets deposited in GEO in 2007

Britain aims for broad open access

• June 2012

“For years, countries have been edging towards open access for research, with some funding agencies requiring that researchers make their papers publicly available within a set period after publication. A report commissioned by the UK government recommends a more radical step: making all papers open access from the start, with authors paying publishers up-front to make their work free to read. The shift towards this ‘gold’ form of open access will create short-term financial burdens for research funders, the report acknowledges, but the economic and cultural benefits far outweigh the risks. Not everyone is convinced, however: research-intensive universities say they are concerned that the report plays down potentially cheaper ways to move to open access, in favour of sustaining publishers’ profits.”

Europe joins UK open-access bid

• July 2012

• The European Commission (EC) matched the United Kingdom’s vision, launching a similar proposal to open up all the work funded by its Horizon 2020 research programme, set to run in the European Union (EU) from 2014 to 2020 and disburse €80 billion (US$98.3 billion).

• EC vice-president Neelie Kroes emphasized the momentum that open access has already acquired.

• “We are leading by example, making EU-funded research open to all — and we are urging member states to do likewise, so that sooner, rather than later, all nationally funded research will follow.”

• The EC says that it is aiming for 60% of all European publicly funded research articles to be open access by 2016.

MCTI –Ecosystems and Biodiversity Research Networks and Programmes

LBA, GEOMA,

PPBIO,

BIONORTE

CPP, Pro Centro-Oeste

INPP

ComCerrado, Pro

Centro-Oeste

PPBIO

Campos Sulinos

Biomar

Marine life census

Pro-Antar

NEW SITES

1-12 OLD SITES

Brazilian Long-term Ecological Research (Lter) Network

Research on composition and ecosystem functioning in all Brazilian biomes, coastal and marine ecosystems

SISBIOTA - Brasil

• National research network • Goals = • to foster and expand knowledge

of Brazilian biodiversity and improve the predictive ability of responses to environmental changes;

• linking research to human resource training, education environmental and dissemination of scientific knowledge.

• Funds - MCTI / CNPq / MMA / MEC / CAPES / FNDCT / FAP – 33 proposals

• Line 1 - Synthesis and knowledge Gaps Brazilian Biodiversity (1 proposal);

• Line 2 - Research Networks to expand knowledge on the biota, the functional role, use and conservation of Brazilian biodiversity (26 proposals);

• Line 3 - Research Networks for understanding and predicting responses of Brazilian biodiversity to climate and land use changes (6 proposals).

National Institutes for S&T - INCTs

Project Institution Value

Environmental Services of Amazonia INPA BRL 4 Mio.

Biodivesity and Land Use of Amazonia MPEG BRL 7 Mio.

Amazonian Biodiversity INPA BRL 7,9 Mio.

Adaptations of Aquatic Biota of Amazonia INPA BRL 7 Mio.

Wetlands UFMT BRL 7,2 Mio.

Energy, Environment and Biodiversity UEA BRL 2 Mio.

Virtual of Flora and Fungos UFPE BRL 4,17 Mio.

Hymenoptera Parasitóides of the Brazilian Southeast Region

UFSCAR BRL 4,8 Mio.

Summary of finance Area of Biodiversity and alike

• CNPq calls

• 24 calls between 2009 and 2011

• Total = BRL 354 Mio.

• FINEP calls – BRL 27,90 Mio.

• CNPq contracts – BRL 3,70 Mio.

• FINEP contracts – BRL 105,01 Mio.

• Total = ~ BRL 500 Mio.

Why isn´t the biodiversity information effectively incorporated in the governmental planning and public policies ?

1. To organization, qualification and integration of information from the Brazilian networks and centres

2. To strengtening of institutional capacities, especially taxonomic capacity

3. To efficient information management and use

Problem? Barriers

Brazilian Biodiversity and Ecosystems Information System

Development and implantation of the Brazilian Biodiversity Information System - SiBBr –articulating the existing databanks

- Improving Brazilian Capacity to Conserve and Use Biodiversity through Information Management and Use

Objective

• Share, publish and guarantee the use of data on biodiversity and ecosystems during the elaboration and implementation of public policies

Shutterstock copyright bruno.maia@naturezafotos.org

Conception • Institutional / public

• Virtual

• Aggregator and integrator of existing databases

• Databases differ from each other

• Differentiated products and patterns for different needs

• Partnerships (government, institutions, users and data providers)

Elaboration

• Participative process: meetings with scientific societies, research institutes, representatives of information systems, actors from the federal government and others

• Considered areas: information technology, data providers, information users and representatives of information systems

Budget MCTI-UNEP- GEF Project

(until June/2015)

Planned (total) MCTI = US$ 20 Mio.

GEF = US$ 8,2 Mio.

Implemented (by June/12) MCTI = US$ 17,2 Mio.

GEF = US$ 0,2 Mio.

Structure

Component 1 Communication infrastructure Component 2 Institutional strengthening Component 3 Information management

SiBBr components

Institutional structure

Characteristics:

• Neutrality

• Service-oriented

• Capacity to develop solutions and tools

• Leadership and initiative

Shutterstock copyright

Shutterstock copyright

Activities Operational:

• Nomination of the Consultative Technical Committee (CTC): MMA, INPA, JB-RJ, USP, IBGE, Embrapa, LNCC

• Accord with the National Research and Education Network (RNP)

• Recruitment of Project Officer and Administrative Assistant

bruno.maia@naturezafotos.org

Activities Dissemination:

• All-embracing meeting with specialists in 2011

• Project launching in the Federal Senate

• Dissemination among scientific communities

• Awareness-raising about Brazilian biodiversity – exposition Brazilian Biomes at Rio +20

with ~71 000 visitors

• Preparation of the SiBBr folders and website

Activities

Political level:

• Advancement of Brazil adherence to the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)

• Articulation to link SiBBr and INDE

• National Policy on Biodiversity Data

• National Policy on Biological Collections

Shutterstock copyright

Shutterstock copyright

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (INDE)

• Established by Decree No. 6666 of 11.27.2008 with the following definition: "Integrated set of technologies, policies, procedures and mechanisms for coordination and monitoring; standards and agreements necessary to facilitate and organize the generation, storage, access, sharing, dissemination and use of geospatial data source federal, state, district and municipal level. "

INDE Objectives

• 1.Promote the appropriate land in the generation, storage,

access, sharing, dissemination and use of geospatial data;

• 2.Promote use in the production of geospatial data by public agencies of federal, state, district and municipal standards and standards approved by the National Cartography Comission - CONCAR, and

• 3.Avoid the duplication of efforts and waste of resources in obtaining geospatial data through the dissemination of documentation (metadata) of data available in public entities and organs of federal, state, county and municipal.

Activities Technical level:

• Elaboration biodiversity metadata that will be adopted by the INDE

• Strengthening of biological and taxonomic collections through budget calls (PROTAX, SISBIOTA, REFLORA, PELD and PROINFRA)

• Next call (2012) – Support to biological collections (BRL 2 Mio. through CNPq)

Activities

Partnership level:

• Identification of potential partners,

data providers and users

• Creation of data repositories for PELD, SISBIOTA and INCTs networks (CNPq funded)

• Articulation to integrate SiBBr and other government initiatives

• SiBBr-CAPES - Creation of a graduate course on Biodiversity data management

Shutterstock copyright

SiB-Br Mapping the knowledge landscape

• To build a network of knowledge on biodiversity

and ecosystems: • where is knowledge on biodiversity and

ecosystems coming from and where does it go?

• Overview on the expertise and knowledge holders as well as potential users

• Identification of barriers to knowledge transfer and development of ways to overcome possible barriers to knowledge access and compilation

Sustainable Development

1. Improvement of human well-being 2.Social equity 3.Significant reduction of environmental risks and

ecological scarcity

Low carbon economy Efficient use of resources Socially inclusive

Sustainable development requires sustained dialogue

Vectors Pressure State Impact Response

Natural Systems

Society

Politicians, Economists,

Social Scientists

Natural Scientists

Science-policy interface

1. more analyses of links between human activities and environmental change,

2. effective strategies despite fragmented political institutions and decision-making processes.

Translating scientific progress and capacity into policy effects requires:

Concluding remarks • Interactions between local and global

environmental changes pose new challenges for the conservation of tropical ecosystems.

• Discussion on economic development and environmental sustainability is still very polarized.

• The improvement of information systems

and applications in decision making and coordination of policies for the implementation of alternative production systems are crucial.

Integrate and disseminate the

knowledge =

Thank you!