Brazil has protected much of the Amazon. It now has to pay for it.
Brazil has established a significant protected-area system, particularly in the Amazon, but faces substantial funding shortfalls. A recent study reveals that 72% of these protected areas are underfunded, with the Amazon experiencing the largest deficits. To effectively manage these areas, Brazil requires stable and transparent long-term financing to cover management costs.
- ▪A study found that 72% of Brazil's federal protected areas are underfunded as of 2023.
- ▪The funding shortfall for these areas is approximately $958 million, with Amazonian protected areas facing an average deficit of 79.2%.
- ▪Despite a 30% increase in investment over the past decade, Brazil's rapid expansion of protected areas has outpaced the development of stable funding mechanisms.
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Brazil has built one of the world’s most important protected-area systems, but a new study finds that most federal protected areas remain underfunded, with the largest shortfalls in the Amazon.The funding gap reflects more than the size of Brazil’s conservation estate: remote Amazon reserves are costly to manage, politically less visible, and often receive far less support than protected areas near cities and institutions.Underfunding has practical consequences, limiting staff, patrols, fire response, monitoring, community engagement, and the ability of protected areas to prevent deforestation and other threats.Tourism, ARPA, the Amazon Fund, and rising federal environmental budgets can help, but Brazil needs stable, transparent, long-term financing that matches the recurring cost of…
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