O padrão de expansão física das ocupações urbanas nas principais regiões metropolitanas brasileiras tem deixado um legado de graves problemas urbanos e ambientais. Muitos desses problemas estão relacionados à ocupação de áreas naturais de importância ambiental tanto por moradias populares produzidas na ilegalidade, quanto por usos associados à atividade turística e de lazer, à indústria e ao comércio. Tal processo vem ocorrendo com maior intensidade desde a década de 1980. O objetivo deste estudo é evidenciar um aspecto desse processo de urbanização, que resulta em impactos ambientais. Busca-se relacionar expansão urbana, natureza das áreas impactadas e proteção legal existente, exemplificando diferentes contextos metropolitanos, usando como ferramenta de análise recursos de sensoriamento remoto e geoprocessamento. O processamento de imagens de satélite é um recurso auxiliar utilizado nos estudos urbanos e ambientais que possibilita longos períodos de análise e grandes escalas. A cartografia elaborada compreende a evolução das manchas urbanas, das áreas protegidas por lei e dos biomas e cobertura vegetal presentes nos diferentes contextos analisados e permite uma visão diversificada sobre a natureza e os serviços ambientais comprometidos pelo processo de urbanização em curso. / The pattern of the urban sprawl in the most important Brazilian metropolitan areas has left a legacy of grave urban and environmental problems. Several of these problems are related to the land use in natural areas of great environmental importance, such as illegally built low class dwellings, as well as use associated to tourism and leisure, industry and commerce. This process has been occurring more intensely since the 1980s. The aim of this study is to highlight an aspect of this urbanization process that results in environmental impact. It is intended to make connections among urban expansion, the nature of the areas under impact and existing legal protection, exemplifying different metropolitan contexts and using as analysis tool the resources of remote sensor and data geographic processing. The satellite image processing is an auxiliary resource used in urban and environmental studies enabling long periods of analysis and large scales. The cartography produced, which comprises the evolution of the urban sprawl, the areas protected by law, the ecosystems and the vegetation cover present in the different analyzed contexts, allows a diversified view of the nature and environmental services compromised by the process of urbanization in course.

Rapid increases in air temperature in Arctic and subarctic regions are driving significant changes to surface water. These changes and their impacts are not well understood in sensitive high Arctic ecosystems. This thesis explores changes in surface water in the high Arctic pond complexes of western Banks Island, Northwest Territories, and examines the impacts of this change on vegetation communities. Landsat imagery (1985-2015) was used to detect trends in surface water, moisture, and vegetation productivity, aerial imagery change detection (1958 and 2014) quantified shifts in the size and distribution of waterbodies, and field sampling investigated factors contributing to observed changes. The impact of expanding lesser snow goose populations on observed changes in surface water was investigated using the aerial imagery change detection of 2409 waterbodies and an information theoretic model selection approach, while their impact on vegetation was assessed using data from field surveys. Our analyses show that the pond complexes of western Banks Island are drying, having lost 7.9% of the surface water that existed in 1985. This loss of surface water disproportionately occurred in smaller sized waterbodies, indicating that climate is the main driver. Model selection showed that intensive occupation of lesser snow geese was associated with more extensive drying and draining of waterbodies and suggests this intensive habitat use may reduce the resilience of pond complexes to climate warming. Evidence from field surveys suggests that snow goose foraging is also contributing to patches of declining vegetation productivity within drying wetland areas. Diminishing and degrading high Arctic pond complexes are likely to alter permafrost thaw and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the habitat quality of these ecosystems. Additional studies focused the mechanisms of surface water loss, the direct impacts of wetland drying on vegetation, and the contributions of snow geese to these processes, are necessary to better understand the changes occurring on Banks Island. / Graduate

A Tese trata da ação pública voltada à governança socioambiental da Amazônia na década de 2000. Os objetivos da pesquisa foram registrar o conjunto de ações implementadas e analisar os principais elementos que explicam os resultados do sucesso obtido na inédita redução do desmatamento verificada no período, que se caracterizou pela consistência e constância. A metodologia adotada consistiu na identificação e classificação das iniciativas desenvolvidas nos campos institucional, legal e político pelo Plano de Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento na Amazônia (PPCDAm); avaliação do esforço governamental empreendido de forma comparativa com as iniciativas da década anterior; suas correlações com as taxas de desmatamento; o grau de impacto nas mídias nacional e regional das medidas implementadas; e a percepção de atores locais sobre os principais fatores que explicam a redução obtida no desmatamento. Para o desenvolvimento da pesquisa foi realizada extensa revisão bibliográfica; analisados dados secundários das principais instituições de pesquisa e de produção de estatísticas socioeconômicas sobre a região; feito levantamento detalhado dos atos legais e infralegais elaborados e das ações implementadas pelo governo federal na região no período de 1990 a 2010; levantamento pormenorizado das matérias sobre desmatamento na Amazônia veiculadas pelos principais veículos de imprensa, em âmbito nacional e regional do período de 1990 a 2010; produção de dados primários, notadamente por meio da utilização de sistema de informação geográfica, que permitem o cruzamento e espacialização de informações secundárias; e realizada pesquisa semiestruturada com atores locais. Os resultados indicam que, associadas ao efeito direto das ações desenvolvidas, muitas das quais tiveram baixa implementação, o volume expressivo de ações de fiscalização e ordenamento territorial, principalmente com a criação de unidades de conservação em terras públicas nas zonas de expansão da fronteira agrícola e no aperfeiçoamento do monitoramento por satélite, somadas à grande repercussão das operações lideradas pela Polícia Federal e a presença do governo federal de forma articulada e constante, estabeleceu na sociedade local uma percepção acentuada de aumento do risco, que induziu a uma mudança de comportamento em relação ao cumprimento da legislação ambiental. A conclusão gera elementos para uma discussão sobre a importância da coerência de posicionamento do Estado e sua clara comunicação à sociedade, constância de atuação e rigor na exigência do cumprimento das normas legais para, juntamente com medidas objetivas de ação pública, na indução da governança socioambiental com efetividade e eficácia. As mudanças no posicionamento do governo federal frente ao tema observadas nos últimos cinco anos e a estabilização da curva descendente da taxa de desmatamento observada a partir de 2012 juntamente com o recente aumento registrado nos anos 2014 e 2015, reforçam os argumentos para a oportunidade dessa discussão. / The thesis deals with public action focused on the socio-environmental governance of the Amazon in the decade of 2000. The goals of the research were to record the set of actions implemented and to analyze the main elements that explain the results of the success obtained in the unprecedented reduction of deforestation in the period, characterized by consistency and constancy. The methodology adopted consisted in identifying and classifying the initiatives developed in the institutional, legal and political fields by the Plan for Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Amazon (PPCDAm, in Portuguese acronym); evaluation of the governmental effort undertaken in a comparative manner with the initiatives of the previous decade; their correlations with deforestation rates; the impact of the implemented measures on national and regional media; and perception of local actors about the main factors that explain the achieved reduction in deforestation. For the development of the research, an extensive bibliographic review was carried out; secondary data from the main research institutions and socioeconomic statistics on the region were analyzed; a detailed survey of the legal and regulatory acts and the actions implemented by the federal government in the region in the period from 1990 to 2010 was produced; a detailed survey of the press material about Amazon deforestation carried out by the main media outlets at national and regional levels from 1990 to 2010 was developed; production of primary data, notably through the use of geographic information system, thus allowing secondary information intersection and spatialization; and a semi-structured research with local actors was undertaken. The results indicate that, associated with the direct effect of the developed actions, many of which had low implementation, the expressive number of actions on territorial control and planning, mainly with the creation of conservation units on public lands in the agricultural frontier zones and the improvement of satellite monitoring, along with the great repercussion of operations led by the Federal Police and the presence of the federal government in an articulated and constant manner, established among local society a remarkable perception of risk increase, which induced a change of behavior in relation to their compliance with environmental legislation. The conclusion creates elements for a discussion about the importance of the coherence in the State\'s position and its clear communication to the society, constancy of action and rigor in the requirement of compliance with the legal norms, together with objective measures of public action, in the induction of an effective and efficiency socio-environmental governance. The changes in the federal government\'s position in the last five years and the stabilization of the downward trend in the rate of deforestation observed from 2012, as well as the recent increase in 2014 and 2015, reinforce the arguments for the opportunity of this discussion.

O crescimento dos sistemas de áreas protegidas nas últimas décadas é considerado um dos maiores esforços da humanidade para conter a atual crise da biodiversidade. No entanto, a cobertura da superfície global por áreas protegidas é um indicador simplificado, sendo necessário ir mais além e avaliar se os sistemas de áreas protegidas representam os diferentes componentes da biodiversidade e processos ecológicos e se estão sendo geridos de forma efetiva para garantir a manutenção da biodiversidade no longo prazo. O objetivo geral do presente estudo foi realizar uma análise da efetividade de gestão e representatividade biológica do sistema de unidades de conservação (UCs) no Estado do Tocantins, avaliando como os diferentes níveis de gestão de áreas protegidas podem interferir nos processos de planejamento sistemático da conservação. Os resultados indicaram a existência de lacunas significativas na implementação das áreas protegidas existentes, apesar do desempenho relativamente bom em alguns elementos. As quatro ameaças mais importantes para o sistema de UCs avaliado foram: infraestrutura, queimadas descontroladas, caça e pecuária. A análise da distribuição de 109 espécies de vertebrados e plantas indicou a presença de padrões biogeográficos claros na biota do Tocantins, que coincidem com padrões relatados por outros autores para alguns grupos taxônomicos. No entanto, lacunas significativas foram observadas tanto na proteção das espécies, quanto na representação dos elementos bióticos identificados. Para testar os impactos dos baixos valores de efetividade e altos valores de ameaças das UCs no planejamento do sistema, reduzimos o estado de conservação das áreas protegidas em 25% e 50%. Isso resultou em acréscimos de 250.000 ha e 590.000 ha, respectivamente, no sistema de áreas protegidas, necessário ao cumprimento das metas de conservação. A representatividade dos sistemas de áreas protegidas depende da persistência da biodiversidade dentro dessas áreas, que é reconhecidamente comprometida por níveis elevados de ameaça associados à efetividade de gestão incipiente. Portanto, sugerimos que o estado de conservação da biodiversidade dentro das áreas protegidas seja incorporado a exercícios de planejamento sistemático de conservação. A definição de prioridades para a criação de novas áreas protegidas deve fazer parte de um planejamento integrado, que aborde também a consolidação de áreas protegidas existentes e estratégias mais amplas para mitigar os efeitos dos fatores principais da perda de biodiversidade fora das reservas. / The growth of protected areas (PAs) in the last decades is considered one of the humanity\'s best efforts to refrain the current crisis of biodiversity. However, the global PA coverage is a simplified indicator; it is necessary to go further and assess whether PA systems represent the different components of biodiversity and ecological processes and are being managed effectively to ensure the maintenance of their values in the long term. The main goal of this study was to analyze the management effectiveness and representation of PA system in Tocantins State, assessing how the different levels of PA management may impact the systematic conservation planning process. Results indicated the existence of significant gaps in the implementation of Tocantins PAs, despite the relatively good performance found in some elements. The four most important threats to the PAs evaluated were: infrastructure, uncontrolled fires, hunting and cattle ranching. Analysis of the distribution of 109 vertebrates and plants indicated that selected species represent biogeographical patterns of Tocantins biota and that there are significant gaps in the protection of the species and biotic elements in the current PA system. In order to test for the effects of detected low management effectiveness and high levels of threat, we reduced the conservation status of protected areas by 25% and 50%. This resulted in an increase in the conservation area network needed to achieve targets of around 250,000 ha and 590,000 ha, respectively. Our results strongly indicate that the representation of PA systems depends on the persistency of biodiversity inside PAs, which are known to be impacted by high levels of threat associated to poor management effectiveness. Therefore, we advocate that biodiversity status within PAs should be incorporated in systematic conservation planning exercises. The definition of priority areas for the establishment of new reserves should be part of an integrated planning process that addresses both the consolidation of existing protected areas and broader strategies to mitigate the effects of major drivers of biodiversity loss outside reserves.

This thesis has endeavoured to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) as a model for the management of conservation areas and the buffer zones to national parks and reserves in Nepal. ICDPs evolved as it was recognised that the Western model of protected natural area management imposed costs on poor rural communities in developing countries and often failed to achieve nature conservation objectives. The ICDP concept was questioned when, after many years of mostly development effort in several developing countries, ICDPs did not provide an appropriate contribution to nature conservation. An ICDP in Nepal that provided considerable benefit to local people and greatly enhanced nature conservation is provided to establish that the ICDP concept is valid. The question that initiated this research was why some ICDPs fail to contribute to nature conservation while others are successful. The ICDP process is based on the assumption that the welfare of people who rely on resources from within protected natural areas is central to the pursuit of nature conservation and has priority in that nature conservation objectives can only be achieved where the wellbeing of local people and their access to the resources they require has been assured. The establishment of a nature conservation estate in developing countries is both an ecological problem and a social problem. The social problem is one of poverty. ICDPs in Nepal’s protected natural areas have been studied using qualitative research methods and a contextual constructionist approach that is central to the study of social problems. The evidence suggests that ICDP agencies have accepted assumptions that sustainable development and poverty alleviation will lead to the conservation of biodiversity. This thesis argues that sustainable resource use can not ensure the conservation of biodiversity yet paradoxically the sustainable use of resources in one place may lead to biodiversity conservation in more remote places where human impact is minimal. The variables associated with different settings are such that the outcomes of interventions designed to achieve ICDP objectives are not always predictable. The research suggests that assumptions about the outcomes of interventions should be treated with caution. Monitoring interventions can help ensure the desired outcomes are achieved but ICDP intervention monitoring in Nepal has been neglected. Numerous reports and evaluations detail input and effort rather than outcomes. The results include a recommendation to apply the principles of action research and adoption of a structured process for monitoring and evaluation of progress towards clearly stated objectives for the project and for individual interventions. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Virtually all marine conservation planning and management models in place or proposed have in common the need for improved scientific rigour in identifying and characterising the marine habitats encompassed. An emerging central theme in the last few years has been the concept of representativeness, or representative systems of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The habitat classification and mapping needed to incorporate considerations of representativeness into MPA planning must logically be carried out at the same scale at which management occurs. Management of highly protected areas occurs almost exclusively at local scales or finer, independent of the reservation model or philosophy employed. Moreton Bay, on Australia’s east coast, was selected for studies at the local scale to map and classify macrobenthic habitats. In a site scale (1 km) trial for the major habitat classification study, remote underwater videography was used to map and characterise an unusual assemblage of epibenthic invertebrates on soft sediments. The assemblage included congregations of the comatulid crinoid Zygometra cf. Z. microdiscus (Bell) at densities up to 0.88 individuals.m-2, comparable to those found in coral reef habitats. There was no correlation between the distribution of this species and commonly used abiotic surrogates depth (6 – 18 m), sediment composition and residual current. This site scale trial is the first quantitative assessment of crinoid density and distribution in shallow water soft-sediment environments. The high densities found are significant in terms of the generally accepted picture of shallow-water crinoids as essentially reefal fauna. The findings highlight the conservation benefits of an inclusive approach to marine habitat survey and mapping. Assemblages such as the one described, although they may be of scientific and ecological significance, would have been overlooked by common approaches to marine conservation planning which emphasise highly productive or aesthetically appealing habitats. Most habitat mapping studies rely solely or in part on abiotic surrogates for patterns of biodiversity. The utility of abiotic variables in predicting biological distributions at the local scale (10 km) was tested. Habitat classifications of the same set of 41 sites based on 6 abiotic variables and abundances of 89 taxa and bioturbation indicators were compared using correlation, regression and ordination analyses. The concepts of false homogeneity and false heterogeneity were defined to describe types of errors associated with using abiotic surrogates to construct habitat maps. The best prediction by abiotic surrogates explained less than 30% of the pattern of biological similarity. Errors of false homogeneity were between 20 and 62%, depending on the methods of estimation. Predictive capability of abiotic surrogates at the taxon level was poor, with only 6% of taxon / surrogate correlations significant. These results have implications for the widespread use of abiotic surrogates in marine habitat mapping to plan for, or assess, representation in Marine Protected Areas. Abiotic factors did not discriminate sufficiently between different soft bottom communities to be a reliable basis for mapping. Habitat mapping for the design of Marine Protected Areas is critically affected by the scale of the source information. The relationship between biological similarity of macrobenthos and the distance between sites was investigated at both site and local scales, and for separate biotic groups. There was a significant negative correlation between similarity and distance, in that sites further apart were less similar than sites close together. The relationship, although significant, was quite weak at the site scale. Rank correlograms showed that similarity was high at scales of 10 km or less, and declined markedly with increasing distance. There was evidence of patchiness in the distributions of some biotic groups, especially seagrass and anthozoans, at scales less than 16 km. In other biotic groups there was an essentially monotonic decline in similarity with distance. The spatial agglomeration approach to habitat mapping was valid in the study area. Site spacing of less than 10 km was necessary to capture important components of biological similarity. Site spacing of less than 2.5 km did not appear to be warranted. Macrobenthic habitat types were classified and mapped at 78 sites spaced 5 km apart. The area mapped was about 2,400 km2 and extended from estuarine shallow subtidal waters to offshore areas to the 50 m isobath. Nine habitat types were recognised, with only one on hard substrate. The habitat mapping characterised several habitat types not previously described in the area and located deepwater algal and soft coral reefs not previously reported. Seagrass beds were encountered in several locations where their occurrence was either unknown or had not previously been quantified. The representation of the derived habitat types within an existing marine protected area was assessed. Only two habitat types were represented in highly protected zones, with less than 3% of each included The study represents the most spatially comprehensive survey of epibenthos undertaken in Moreton Bay, with over 40,000 m2 surveyed. Derived habitat maps provide a robust basis for inclusion of representative examples of all habitat types in marine protected area planning in and adjacent to Moreton Bay. The utility of video data to conduct a low-cost habitat survey over a comparatively large area was also demonstrated. The method used has potentially wide application for the survey and design of marine protected areas.

The goal of this research was to develop statistically robust ecosystem-based approaches, while optimizing data acquisition on relatively unexploited fish species in South Florida reefs, i.e., parrotfishes, Family Scaridae, in Biscayne Bay (with seasonal roller frame beam trawl surveys, 1996-2000) and Florida Keys (with annual Reef Fish Visual Censuses, 1997-2001), by following these steps: (I) analysis of information gaps for the stocks, including systematics, biogeography, population dynamics, reproductive ecology, trophodynamics, habitat use, and fisheries dynamics of Western Atlantic parrotfishes; (II) determination of primary research objectives from prioritization in Step I; (III) determination of essential fish habitats, ontogenetic shifts, migrations, and reef-seagrass habitat, from integration of stratified sampling design for fisheries-independent surveys, habitat selection theory-based analyses, and length-based analyses; (IV) estimation of population dynamics and fisheries-specific parameters encompassing life history demographics from empirical data or comparisons to theoretical expectations adapted to local conditions; (V) simulation modeling of a realistic range of fishing scenarios and demographic characteristics to evaluate the efficacy of potential traditional fisheries and spatial management strategies; and (VI) application of sampling optimization procedures and fisheries ecology approaches. Four scarid species had an estimated combined abundance of ca. 36.8 x 106 individuals in the Florida Keys. Connectivity among seagrass beds, coral reefs and deep waters had three major patterns: seagrass dwellers, reef dwellers, with inshore-to-offshore ontogenetic , and a seagrass-reef connection, using Biscayne Bay as an important recruitment ground. Marine protected areas of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary did not show effects on abundance, size composition or spatial distribution of any parrotfish studied. Simulations suggested relatively short longevities (5-10 years), moderate body growth curvature, high instantaneous natural mortality rates (0.3-0.6 y super minus one), and low annual survival rates (27-54%). Simulated estimates of fishing mortalities ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 y super minus one, indicating low levels of exploitation, but low Spawning Potential Ratios (SPR = 23.5-26%). Proposed potential exploitation based on a legal minimum size equal to their size at first maturity and fishing rates equal or below to their natural mortality should secure SPR values at 45-48%.

Using ethnomethodology and influenced by ethnography, the purpose of this research has been to explore the meanings that elder residents in and around Hafford, SK and Val Marie, SK derive from their relationship with and confer upon their cultural landscapes. Hence, for a month and a half, I lived in Hafford and then Val Marie in order to speak with elder residents (age 60 or over) who have lived and worked in or around these areas for at least twenty years.<p>The meanings of elder residents hinge on their memories of growing up and making a living when younger. Their meanings also resonate with the ideas and perspectives that these individuals have formed regarding the changes in their cultural landscape. Changes include those to agriculture; service provision; and the formation of the Grasslands National Park for which Val Marie is the gateway community and Redberry Lake Biosphere Reserve in which Hafford is located. <p>The broad themes of connections, separation, and continuity that I distilled in the narratives of elder residents have guided the identification of the meanings. To this end, the cultural landscape concept has provided an ideal framework. Including the different and diverse meanings of elder residents is integral to our conception of the cultural landscape as a whole, a characteristic that assists in guiding change and development in these communities. <p>In particular, elder residents contribute to an ethical landscape infused with meanings engendered by sentiments of connections, separation, and continuity and ones that hearken to their ethics. Such meanings can have a substantive impact on the decisions influencing these areas. Furthermore, as part of intangible cultural heritage, elder residents offer the meanings they have forged as well as their ethics, the ongoing result of having lived and worked in their cultural landscape. <p>This research has helped to bring relief to the meanings of elder residents in Hafford and Val Marie. Such meanings are necessary in the overall identity of the cultural landscape. The meanings that elder residents derive from their cultural landscape are a valuable asset for communities seeking to maintain their social and economic viability and sustainability.

This dissertation comprises four chapters. The unifying theme is the evaluation of environmental programs. Specifically, each chapter examines some facet of the impacts of protected areas. The first chapter examines the heterogeneous environmental and economic impacts of protected areas in Costa Rica. Previous studies suggest that Costa Rica's protected area system induced both reduced deforestation and alleviated poverty. We demonstrate that these environmental and social impacts were spatially heterogeneous. Importantly, the characteristics associated with the most avoided deforestation are the characteristics associated with the least poverty alleviation. In other words, the same characteristics that have limited the conservation effectiveness of protected areas may have improved the social welfare impacts of these areas. These results suggest that `win-win' efforts to protect ecosystems and alleviate poverty may be possible when policymakers are satisfied with low levels of each outcome, but tradeoffs exist when more of either outcome is desired. The second chapter explores in more detail the heterogeneous impacts of protected areas in Costa Rica and Thailand. In particular we investigate the potential for protected areas to act as a mechanism for poverty traps and use semiparametric models to identify the spatial congruence of environmental and economic outcomes. We find no evidence that protected areas trap historically poorer areas in poverty. In fact, we find that poorer areas at baseline appear to have the greatest levels of poverty reduction as a result of protection. However, we do find that the spatial characteristics associated with the most poverty alleviation are not necessarily the characteristics associated with the most avoided deforestation. We demonstrate how an understanding of these spatially heterogeneous responses to protection can be used to generate suitability maps that identify locations in which both environmental and poverty alleviation goals are most likely to be achieved. In the third chapter we address the mechanisms through which protected areas affect economic outcomes. Using recently developed quasi-experimental methods and rich biophysical and demographic data, we quantify the causal post-treatment mechanism impacts of tourism, infrastructure development and ecosystem services on poverty, due to the establishment of protected areas in Costa Rica prior to 1980. We find that nearly 50% of the poverty reduction estimated in a previous study can be attributed to tourism. In addition, although the mechanism estimates for the infrastructure and ecosystem services proxies are negligible, we argue that the results provide evidence that enhanced ecosystem services from the establishment of protected areas has likely helped to reduce poverty. The results provide additional information to policy makers that wish to enhance the future establishment of protected areas with complementary policy. The final chapter studies the economic impacts of protected areas in Bolivia. We find that municipalities with at least 10% of their area occupied by a protected area between 1992 and 2000 exhibited differentially greater levels of poverty reduction between 1992 and 2001 compared to similar municipalities unaffected by protected areas. We find that the results are robust to a number of econometric specifications, spillover analyses and a placebo study. Although the overarching results that Bolivia's protected areas were associated with poverty reduction are similar to previous studies , the underlying results are subtly, but significantly, different. In previous studies it was found that controlling for key observable covariates lead to fundamentally antithetical results compared to naive estimates. Conversely, these results indicate that naive estimates lead to an over-estimation of the poverty reducing impacts of protected areas. The results expose the heterogeneity of protected area impacts across countries and, therefore, underscore the importance of country-level impact evaluations in order to build the global knowledge base regarding the socioeconomic impacts of protected areas.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the ecological ICMS (ICMS-e) in the Brazilian Amazon, an intragovernmental transfer for incentivizing biodiversity conservation. Tax funds are passed from state governments to municipalities in proportion to the amount of protected area within their borders; biological reserves, sustainable use areas, and indigenous lands are all considered. Econometric analysis using a fixed effects model found that the policy had little positive effect on increasing protected areas compared to the significant negative influence of poor land tenure, agricultural influences, and lack of monitoring for illegal deforestation. However, the policy may increase municipal governments' acceptance of and support for protected areas, especially if combined with institutional support.