In order to extend ecological footprint analysis (EFA) to electronic products, new methods had to be developed which associate the world average bioproductive space per capita and year - the fair Earth share - with an individual product. The problem analysed in this thesis is the need for an environmental assessment tool for electronic products, which uses natural capital accounting. This need arose because so far, electronic products were mainly assessed using life cycle analysis with a focus on toxicity. Since the ecological footprint (EF) is a sustainability indicator, the sustainability discussion and in particular its relevance and implications with regard to the EF is reviewed. The electronic products assessed in this thesis are a personal computer (PC) in an exploratory study, and three mobile phones (two main case studies and one updated case study). To establish the land areas used by the mined materials used in electronic products, a database was developed based on site specific data found in the literature, and on approximations from the density of materials and their overburden. A life cycle energy approach was used to determine the burdens from producing and using a mobile phone. In order to estimate energy requirements for materials for which no data was available, the relationship between abundance and rucksack / overburden values was used in a regression analysis. Direct land use data and results from the energy analysis were used as an inventory for the subsequent EFA. An EF time series was applied to represent a more accurate picture of PC and phone use. This was also necessary since the EF reflects the instantaneous rate (a snapshot) of resource consumption. Key results are that the EF of electronic products are much larger than their actual size and that different electronic products have different EF. Our methodology proved sensitive enough to reveal differences even in small electronic products, given the high benchmark of a fair Earth share, and useful in monitoring space-efficient technology.

Over the past number of decades, Canadian governments (both federal and provincial) have made commitments to preserving and protecting the natural environment and to using its components efficiently in order to benefit both current and future generations. These commitments, this thesis argues, translate into duties to strive for sustainable economic growth and intergenerational equity. One of the key challenges is to figure out which are the best policy tools and legal instruments that are capable of leading Canada towards these goals. Unfortunately, the economic measures typically employed by decision makers (GDP, GNP, productivity) tend to exclude or under represent natural capital, which may lead to decisions which actually degrade and deplete the natural environment and therefore violate the aforementioned legal commitments. One clear strategy to help Canada meet its commitments to sustainable economic growth and intergenerational equity is to ensure it uses its natural capital as efficiently as possible. This thesis proposes that green productivity is a useful tool for improving decision making because it considers the efficiency of use of natural capital a criteria important to helping achieve both sustainable economic growth and intergenerational equity. Green productivity is presented in this thesis as an umbrella term for productivity measures which include or account for, in some way, the (mis)use of natural capital. Specifically, the dissertation discuses three measures of green productivity used within economics: natural resource productivity, environmentally adjusted productivity, and natural capital and the residual. In addition to exploring the differences between these three measures of green productivity, the dissertation shows that they can be used to improve decision making in a number of ways, including as a broader public policy agenda item used by the government to target sustainability objectives. Additionally, measures of green productivity can be used to identify more specific policy and legal instrument goals, in designing and evaluating legal instruments, and in stakeholder consultation. For example, natural resource productivity can help identify leaders and laggards, thereby allowing decision makers to target certain industries or areas which are lagging. It can also help decision makers learn from leading jurisdictions which may ultimately lead to the implementation of new ideas in legal instrument design. The dissertation concludes with a case study of one type of green productivity measure (water productivity) in order to illustrate how the information it produces could be applied by decision makers.

Esta pesquisa se situa no campo do planejamento territorial e da sustentabilidade urbana, com foco na conservação da biodiversidade e na provisão de serviços ecossistêmicos. Parte-se do pressuposto que a urbanização, embora estimule o progresso econômico, social e cultural, tem impulsionado problemas como a degradação ambiental e a falta de saneamento e que é necessário um planejamento do território em nível metropolitano, visando a manutenção do capital natural e a provisão de serviços ecossistêmicos essenciais ao bem-estar humano e à qualidade de vida, de forma sustentável. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi propor um conjunto de indicadores de avaliação de capital natural e de serviços ecossistêmicos para regiões metropolitanas, tendo como recorte empírico a Região Metropolitana de Curitiba. O conjunto de indicadores foi construído a partir de uma base teórica e posteriormente validado por especialistas utilizando-se o método Delphi. O conjunto de indicadores proposto e validado por especialistas apresenta embasamento teórico e flexibilidade para aplicação em diferentes contextos. A situação na RMC demonstra uma tendência de degradação do capital natural e consequente comprometimento na provisão de água em longo prazo, com destaque para a bacia do rio Ribeira. Verificou-se a necessidade de se ampliar, em grande parte da RMC, a implementação das políticas de proteção da biodiversidade, estimular a criação de novas unidades de conservação e fortalecer o monitoramento do uso do solo. / This research is situated in the field of territorial planning and urban sustainability, with focus on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. The assumption is that urbanization, while stimulating economic, social and cultural progress, has driven problems such as environmental degradation and lack of sanitation and that it is necessary to plan the territory at the metropolitan level, aiming at maintaining natural capital and providing ecosystem services essential to human well-being and quality of life in a sustainable way. Thus, the objective of this study was to propose a set of indicators for the evaluation of natural capital and ecosystem services on metropolitan regions, having as an empirical cut the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba. The set of indicators was built from a theoretical basis and then validated by experts using the Delphi method. The set of indicators proposed and validated presents flexibility for application in different contexts. The situation in the MRC demonstrates a trend of degradation of natural capital and consequent impairment in long term water provision, with emphasis in the Ribeira river basin. It is necessary to expand implementation of policies to protect biodiversity, to stimulate the creation of new conservation units and to strengthen the monitoring of land use.

A Economia Ecológica traz como principal fundamento a limitação biofísica do Capital Natural como fonte primária na geração de Serviços Ecossistêmicos demandados pela sociedade. A discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos ganhou expressão internacional nas reflexões trazidas pelo relatório Limits to Growth (1972) e consolidou-se na Avaliação Ecossistêmica do Milênio (2005). A diretriz de limitação das atividades econômicas à capacidade de suporte dos ecossistemas vem sendo incorporada no contexto da governança ambiental global, por meio de conferências, convenções e tratados voltados para a governança de temáticas como mudanças climáticas, gestão de recursos hídricos e biodiversidade. No entanto, desde a publicação do Clube de Roma (1968), (um alerta sobre a vulnerabilidade do crescimento econômico às limitações do capital natural) houve predominância, no setor empresarial, de abordagens pautadas nos conceitos Triple Bottom Line e de Ecoeficiência, deixando em segundo plano a discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos. Os relatórios de sustentabilidade, instrumentos voltados à divulgação de informações socioambientais das empresas aos seus Stakeholders, refletem também esta trajetória de ênfase a estas abordagens. Entretanto, o advento do Relato Integrado (RI), traz elementos em sua Estrutura, documentos-base e em discursos de sua entidade propositora (o International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), que sugerem aderência ao entendimento da Economia Ecológica. Ou seja, de que o Capital Natural provê o ambiente sobre o qual os outros capitais se apoiam. Em função disto, este estudo teve como objetivo geral verificar se o RI corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O alinhamento do RI a tais fundamentos, o configuraria como um marco no setor empresarial, correspondendo a uma iniciativa pioneira, permitindo considerá-lo um potencial vetor de mudança sobre os paradigmas atuais de gestão corporativa. Para elucidar esta questão realizou-se uma análise multimétodo, em três etapas. Nas duas primeiras analisaram-se os documentos: Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado (2013), o CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) e os Relatórios Integrados divulgados pelas 6 organizações brasileiras selecionadas, para os anos de 2014 e 2015. Na última etapa de entrevistas verificou-se o discurso dos gestores de cada empresa. Os resultados avaliam a aderência de tais documentos e dos discursos aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O estudo conclui que o RI não corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada com os fundamentos da Economia Ecológica e, entre seus principais resultados, destaca: i) as divergências encontradas entre os documentos produzidos pelo IIRC, quanto ao seu alinhamento aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, que comprometem o potencial do RI como vetor de transformação da governança corporativa; ii) a baixa incidência de elementos e abordagens alusivas a tais fundamentos nos relatórios analisados, além de que, iii) para os casos em que o alinhamento a tais fundamentos foi detectado, não há relação com a adoção das diretrizes do IIRC. O estudo contribui ainda com a sugestão de modificações na Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado, no sentido de orientar o alinhamento da iniciativa aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, diferenciando-a no que tange à gestão ambiental corporativa. / The Ecological Economics has as its main foundation the biophysical limitation of Natural Capital in relation to the society\'s demand for Ecosystem Services. The discussion on ecosystem boundaries gained international expression in the reflections brought by the Limits to Growth report (1972) and consolidated in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). The guideline limiting economic activities to ecosystem support capacity has been incorporated in the context of global environmental governance, through conferences, conventions and treaties focused on the governance of issues such as climate change, water resources management and biodiversity. However, since the Club of Rome (1968) (an initiative alerting about the vulnerability of economic growth to the limitations of natural capital), there was a predominance in the business sector of approaches based on the concepts of Triple Bottom Line and Eco-efficiency, leaving in the behind the discussion about the ecosystem limits. The sustainability reports, instruments aimed at the dissemination of companys social and environmental information to their Stakeholders, also reflect this trajectory of emphasis to these approaches. However, the advent of the Integrated Reporting (IR) brings elements in its Structure, base documents and speeches of its proposer (the International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), which suggest adherence to the understanding of the Ecological Economics, that Natural Capital provides the environment upon which other capitals rely. In this sense, this study has as general objective to verify if the IR corresponds to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations. The alignment of the IR to such basement, would configure it as a landmark in the business sector, corresponding to a pioneering initiative, allowing to consider it as a potential vector of change on the current paradigms of corporate management. To elucidate this question a multi-method analysis was carried out in three stages. Stages one and two analyzed the following documents: The international Framework (2013), CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) and the Integrated Reports released by the six Brazilian organizations selected, for the years 2014 and 2015. And in the third interview stage analyzed the discourse of the managers of each company. The results evaluate the adherence of such documents and discourses to the Ecological Economics foundations. The study concludes that IR does not correspond to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations and, among its main results, it highlights: i) the divergences found between the documents produced by the IIRC and its alignment with the these foundations, which compromise the potential of IR as a transformation vector of corporate governance; ii) the low incidence of elements and approaches alluding to such foundations in the analyzed reports. Besides that, iii) in cases where the alignment to these foundations was detected, there is no relation with the adoption of the IIRC guidelines. The study also contributes by proposing modifications in The international Framework, in order to direct the alignment of the initiative to the Ecological Economics foundations, differentiating it in what concerns to the corporate environmental management.

Esta pesquisa se situa no campo do planejamento territorial e da sustentabilidade urbana, com foco na conservação da biodiversidade e na provisão de serviços ecossistêmicos. Parte-se do pressuposto que a urbanização, embora estimule o progresso econômico, social e cultural, tem impulsionado problemas como a degradação ambiental e a falta de saneamento e que é necessário um planejamento do território em nível metropolitano, visando a manutenção do capital natural e a provisão de serviços ecossistêmicos essenciais ao bem-estar humano e à qualidade de vida, de forma sustentável. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo foi propor um conjunto de indicadores de avaliação de capital natural e de serviços ecossistêmicos para regiões metropolitanas, tendo como recorte empírico a Região Metropolitana de Curitiba. O conjunto de indicadores foi construído a partir de uma base teórica e posteriormente validado por especialistas utilizando-se o método Delphi. O conjunto de indicadores proposto e validado por especialistas apresenta embasamento teórico e flexibilidade para aplicação em diferentes contextos. A situação na RMC demonstra uma tendência de degradação do capital natural e consequente comprometimento na provisão de água em longo prazo, com destaque para a bacia do rio Ribeira. Verificou-se a necessidade de se ampliar, em grande parte da RMC, a implementação das políticas de proteção da biodiversidade, estimular a criação de novas unidades de conservação e fortalecer o monitoramento do uso do solo. / This research is situated in the field of territorial planning and urban sustainability, with focus on biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. The assumption is that urbanization, while stimulating economic, social and cultural progress, has driven problems such as environmental degradation and lack of sanitation and that it is necessary to plan the territory at the metropolitan level, aiming at maintaining natural capital and providing ecosystem services essential to human well-being and quality of life in a sustainable way. Thus, the objective of this study was to propose a set of indicators for the evaluation of natural capital and ecosystem services on metropolitan regions, having as an empirical cut the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba. The set of indicators was built from a theoretical basis and then validated by experts using the Delphi method. The set of indicators proposed and validated presents flexibility for application in different contexts. The situation in the MRC demonstrates a trend of degradation of natural capital and consequent impairment in long term water provision, with emphasis in the Ribeira river basin. It is necessary to expand implementation of policies to protect biodiversity, to stimulate the creation of new conservation units and to strengthen the monitoring of land use.

A Economia Ecológica traz como principal fundamento a limitação biofísica do Capital Natural como fonte primária na geração de Serviços Ecossistêmicos demandados pela sociedade. A discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos ganhou expressão internacional nas reflexões trazidas pelo relatório Limits to Growth (1972) e consolidou-se na Avaliação Ecossistêmica do Milênio (2005). A diretriz de limitação das atividades econômicas à capacidade de suporte dos ecossistemas vem sendo incorporada no contexto da governança ambiental global, por meio de conferências, convenções e tratados voltados para a governança de temáticas como mudanças climáticas, gestão de recursos hídricos e biodiversidade. No entanto, desde a publicação do Clube de Roma (1968), (um alerta sobre a vulnerabilidade do crescimento econômico às limitações do capital natural) houve predominância, no setor empresarial, de abordagens pautadas nos conceitos Triple Bottom Line e de Ecoeficiência, deixando em segundo plano a discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos. Os relatórios de sustentabilidade, instrumentos voltados à divulgação de informações socioambientais das empresas aos seus Stakeholders, refletem também esta trajetória de ênfase a estas abordagens. Entretanto, o advento do Relato Integrado (RI), traz elementos em sua Estrutura, documentos-base e em discursos de sua entidade propositora (o International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), que sugerem aderência ao entendimento da Economia Ecológica. Ou seja, de que o Capital Natural provê o ambiente sobre o qual os outros capitais se apoiam. Em função disto, este estudo teve como objetivo geral verificar se o RI corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O alinhamento do RI a tais fundamentos, o configuraria como um marco no setor empresarial, correspondendo a uma iniciativa pioneira, permitindo considerá-lo um potencial vetor de mudança sobre os paradigmas atuais de gestão corporativa. Para elucidar esta questão realizou-se uma análise multimétodo, em três etapas. Nas duas primeiras analisaram-se os documentos: Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado (2013), o CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) e os Relatórios Integrados divulgados pelas 6 organizações brasileiras selecionadas, para os anos de 2014 e 2015. Na última etapa de entrevistas verificou-se o discurso dos gestores de cada empresa. Os resultados avaliam a aderência de tais documentos e dos discursos aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O estudo conclui que o RI não corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada com os fundamentos da Economia Ecológica e, entre seus principais resultados, destaca: i) as divergências encontradas entre os documentos produzidos pelo IIRC, quanto ao seu alinhamento aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, que comprometem o potencial do RI como vetor de transformação da governança corporativa; ii) a baixa incidência de elementos e abordagens alusivas a tais fundamentos nos relatórios analisados, além de que, iii) para os casos em que o alinhamento a tais fundamentos foi detectado, não há relação com a adoção das diretrizes do IIRC. O estudo contribui ainda com a sugestão de modificações na Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado, no sentido de orientar o alinhamento da iniciativa aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, diferenciando-a no que tange à gestão ambiental corporativa. / The Ecological Economics has as its main foundation the biophysical limitation of Natural Capital in relation to the society\'s demand for Ecosystem Services. The discussion on ecosystem boundaries gained international expression in the reflections brought by the Limits to Growth report (1972) and consolidated in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). The guideline limiting economic activities to ecosystem support capacity has been incorporated in the context of global environmental governance, through conferences, conventions and treaties focused on the governance of issues such as climate change, water resources management and biodiversity. However, since the Club of Rome (1968) (an initiative alerting about the vulnerability of economic growth to the limitations of natural capital), there was a predominance in the business sector of approaches based on the concepts of Triple Bottom Line and Eco-efficiency, leaving in the behind the discussion about the ecosystem limits. The sustainability reports, instruments aimed at the dissemination of companys social and environmental information to their Stakeholders, also reflect this trajectory of emphasis to these approaches. However, the advent of the Integrated Reporting (IR) brings elements in its Structure, base documents and speeches of its proposer (the International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), which suggest adherence to the understanding of the Ecological Economics, that Natural Capital provides the environment upon which other capitals rely. In this sense, this study has as general objective to verify if the IR corresponds to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations. The alignment of the IR to such basement, would configure it as a landmark in the business sector, corresponding to a pioneering initiative, allowing to consider it as a potential vector of change on the current paradigms of corporate management. To elucidate this question a multi-method analysis was carried out in three stages. Stages one and two analyzed the following documents: The international Framework (2013), CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) and the Integrated Reports released by the six Brazilian organizations selected, for the years 2014 and 2015. And in the third interview stage analyzed the discourse of the managers of each company. The results evaluate the adherence of such documents and discourses to the Ecological Economics foundations. The study concludes that IR does not correspond to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations and, among its main results, it highlights: i) the divergences found between the documents produced by the IIRC and its alignment with the these foundations, which compromise the potential of IR as a transformation vector of corporate governance; ii) the low incidence of elements and approaches alluding to such foundations in the analyzed reports. Besides that, iii) in cases where the alignment to these foundations was detected, there is no relation with the adoption of the IIRC guidelines. The study also contributes by proposing modifications in The international Framework, in order to direct the alignment of the initiative to the Ecological Economics foundations, differentiating it in what concerns to the corporate environmental management.

Cuba’s expansive coral reefs and mangrove habitats provide a variety of ecosystem services to coastal communities including nursery grounds for fisheries, shoreline stability, and storm and flood protection. While Cuba’s coastal habitats are some of the most preserved in the Caribbean, they are under increasing threat of degradation from the impacts of climate change, increased tourism, and coastal development. With the goal of sustainable development, Cubans need to assess the storm and flood protection benefits these coastal habitats provide, and integrate this information into future expansion and management plans within the National Protected Areas System (SNAP). Using the open source software, Integrated Valuation on Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST), a national-scale coastal vulnerability model was developed to provide quantitative estimates of coastal exposure and the protective role of coastal habitats during storm events. This model integrates storm information with bathymetry and coastline geomorphology, coupled with coastal habitat data to estimate the influence of these habitats in reducing vulnerability to storms and flooding. By combining these results with human population data, the model identifies where coastal communities are most vulnerable to wave energy and storm surge, and where coral reefs and mangroves provide the most protection by reducing impacts to these communities. We classify these regions as areas of conservation priority. We observed that fifty percent of the areas identified as areas of conservation priority lack any form of environmental protection. We recommend including these key habitats within the National System of Protected Areas. This will permit decision makers to more effectively concentrate restoration and conservation efforts in areas where people and natural resources will experience greater benefit from valuable ecological services.

Submitted by Biblioteca de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica BGQ (bgq@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-10-05T15:08:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Raquel PinhaoFinal.pdf: 1134569 bytes, checksum: bc92b6544696e99a064e417111c05f14 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-05T15:08:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Raquel PinhaoFinal.pdf: 1134569 bytes, checksum: bc92b6544696e99a064e417111c05f14 (MD5) / Universidade Federal Fluminense. Instituto de Química. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geoquímica, Niterói, RJ / Partindo das hipóteses de que é possível identificar fontes e ou segmentos fluviais contaminados e, mesmo, hierarquizá-los, em um contexto já altamente poluído e sob influência de marés; de que é possível avaliar as perdas sócio-econômicas geradas pela contaminação hídrica, buscou-se caracterizar a contaminação das águas fluviais da região noroeste da Baía de Guanabara e realizar uma abordagem que enfocasse a depreciação do capital natural. Para tanto, foi analisado o potencial de geração de fluxos de contaminantes pelos segmentos fluviais do sistema Iguaçu-Sarapuí utilizando-se uma estratégia amostral que considera a realização de massa (fluxos) em situação sem ou com o mínimo, representação do fluxo fluvial em direção a baía.

Submitted by Rafaela Aparecida da Silva (rafaelaeco@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-07-22T17:28:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_tese_doutorado.pdf: 3916356 bytes, checksum: c0e6694feb24e2524a19a39fcc4f9523 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Aparecida Puerta null (dripuerta@rc.unesp.br) on 2018-07-23T17:43:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_ra_dr_rcla.pdf: 3544993 bytes, checksum: 397882c9847d86efebcd151744bc129f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-23T17:43:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_ra_dr_rcla.pdf: 3544993 bytes, checksum: 397882c9847d86efebcd151744bc129f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Na escala global, a intensificação das atividades antrópicas vem provocando mudanças prejudiciais aos ecossistemas naturais, como a superexploração dos recursos, supressão de florestas e redução da biodiversidade. Tais efeitos afetam diretamente a qualidade de vida dos seres humanos, inviabilizando a provisão sustentável de bens e serviços que a natureza pode promover, chamados Serviços Ecossistêmicos (SE). Em áreas de alta aptidão agrícola, a demanda por terras acelera a modificação das paisagens. A regulamentação desta demanda é determinada por tomadores de decisão que, por sua vez, são influenciados por suas preferências culturais, pelo mercado e pelas características ambientais e físicas da região. Visando estimular a restauração de florestas e consequentemente a manutenção da provisão de SE e a conservação da biodiversidade, esta tese objetivou entender como o conceito de SE pode auxiliar na elaboração de políticas, programas, projetos e ações ambientais em áreas de alta pressão agropecuária. Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida na região do Pontal do Paranapanema, à oeste do estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Esta região é marcada por um passado de grilagens de terra, que acelerou o processo de desmatamento, incorporando a pecuária nos seus sistemas de produção e, recentemente, a cana-de-açúcar, principalmente em grandes propriedades rurais. Ainda, esta região concentra uma grande quantidade de assentamentos da reforma agrária. Foi verificado o status de conservação da cobertura florestal no interior das propriedades rurais e diagnosticado o alto passivo de florestas de acordo a lei brasileira de Proteção da Vegetação Nativa (LPVN). Com base nesse resultado, foram propostas diferentes estratégias de adequação ambiental com base no tamanho das propriedades. A percepção de SE e o comportamento ambiental de dois grupos de proprietários rurais (assentados e fazendeiros) foi diagnosticada por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, e verificou-se que as pessoas percebem mais SE nos ambientes com floresta e água, embora estes ambientes não façam parte de suas rotinas. No geral, os fazendeiros apresentaram maior percepção dos SE que os assentados, o que pode ser atribuído à sua maior escolaridade, contato com a natureza e tempo de domínio da terra. Por fim, ficou evidenciado que o conceito de serviços ecossistêmicos pode fortalecer instrumentos de conservação e restabelecimento da biodiversidade, tomando como base a adequação ambiental das propriedades à legislação vigente. / In the global scale, the intensification of human activities has been causing negative effects on natural ecosystems, such as overexploitation of resources, suppression of forests and reduction of biodiversity. These effects affect directly the quality of life of human beings, making it impossible to maintain a sustainable provision of goods and services from nature, the so called Ecosystem Services (ES). In areas with high agricultural aptitude, demand for land accelerates landscape modification. Regulamentation of such demand is determined by decision-makers who, in turn, are influenced by culture, the market, environmental and physical characteristics of the region. Aiming at forest restoration and, consequently, ES maintenance and biodiversity conservation, this research intended to identify the potential application of the ES concept in the formulation of environmental policies, programs, projects and actions in areas of high agricultural aptitude. This research was developed at Pontal do Paranapanema, a region in the western of São Paulo State, Brazil. This region is marked by a past of land encroachments, which pushed the process of deforestation, incorporating livestock in its production systems and, more recently, sugar cane was included mainly in large rural properties. Still, this region concentrates a great amount of settlements from land reform. The state of conservation of forests was verified within the rural properties, as well as their legal deficit according to the Brazilian Law of Protection of Native Vegetation. Based on these results, different strategies to pursue environmental adequacy were proposed according to property size. The perception of ES and the environmental behavior of two groups of rural landowners were diagnosed through semi-structured interviews, and it was verified that people perceived more ES in forest and water environments, even though such environments are not part of their daily routines. In general, farmers have a greater perception of ES than settled farmers, which can be attributed to their higher education, contact with nature and duration of land tenure. Lastly, it was evidenced that the concept of ES can strengthen instruments for conservation and restoration of biodiversity, based on the environmental adequacy of rural properties to the current legislation.

This thesis seeks to verify the concept of so-called resource curse at the beginning of the new millennium. The theoretical part defines the symptoms of the alleged curse, curse transmission channels and criticism of the concept. Compared to other studies dealing with the theme of the resource curse this work is not focused on just one transmission channel. The practical part verifies several hypotheses established by comparing research papers on impacts of natural resources. The validity of the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis, Dutch disease symptoms and a negative impact on political institutions (inclination toward authoritarianism, high level of corruption, high government spending, low efficiency of economic and political decision-making and low investment in education) is verified. For the analysis have been selected two African countries (Nigeria and Botswana) and two advanced countries (Canada and Norway). The last part of this thesis provides policy implications. The results confirm the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis for selected commodities in the long term and some of the symptoms of Dutch disease at the beginning of the new millennium. Hypotheses regarding the impact on the political institutions have not been confirmed, since the results varied across the countries. The high vulnerability of the countries to movements in commodity prices was found.