UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO DA NATUREZA: UM OLHAR SOBRE OS IMPACTOS DA AUSÊNCIA DE PLANO DE MANEJO

Abstract

Brazil took a significant step toward protecting its biodiversity, none of the country’s most emblematic assets, with the enactment of Law nº 9.985 on July 18, 2000. This legislation provided a formal regulatory framework for Conservation Units (UCs), even though many had already been in existence for decades. In this context, various conservation categories and technical management instruments were established, with the management plan being the most fundamental among them. These instruments serve to delineate, for example, buffer zones, the perimeter of the Conservation Units, and the activities permitted and prohibited within their boundaries. All these mechanisms are designed to enhance the effectiveness of conservation efforts by ensuring the fulfillment of key objectives, such as contributing to the maintenance of biological diversity and genetic resources within national territory and jurisdictional waters; protecting species threatened with extinction at both regional and national levels; and supporting the preservation and restoration of natural ecosystem diversity. Nonetheless, it has been observed that, even after 25 years since the law's enactment, management plans have yet to be implemented in more than 70% of Conservation Units. This critical deficiency, in and of itself, is sufficient to generate significant environmental harm, as illicit human activities exploit the regulatory gaps left by the absence of management plans, an indication of weak governance. Consequently, the failure to implement these plans constitutes a direct violation of the very purpose for which the Conservation Units were established. Given this pressing reality, the Judiciary has emerged as the competent authority to address these regulatory shortcomings, compelling public authorities to take immediate action in drafting and implementing management plans. This legal intervention is pursued primarily through public civil actions and popular actions, both of which serve as democratic judicial mechanisms designed to safeguard environmental legal interests against harmful omissions.