Environmental Impacts Caused by Enterprises in Nature Conservation Units in the Southeast Region of Brazil

Abstract

Enterprises frequently affect Nature Conservation Units, which can cause environmental impacts of great magnitude. The present work aimed to analyze the environmental impacts of projects in the Southeast region of Brazil that affected nature conservation units. For data collection, 15 environmental studies used in the environmental licensing processes in the Southeast region of Brazil were used. A total of 119 environmental impacts were found in conservation units, with 24 environmental changes in the physical environment, 35 in the biological environment and 60 in the socioeconomic environment. In the physical environment, all impacts were classified as negative, according to their nature. In the biological environment, only 3 impacts were positive. In the socioeconomic environment, most impacts were classified as negative, but 20 impacts were classified as positive and 6 as positive and negative. In the areas of influence of the studied enterprises, there were 10 of the 12 conservation units categories existing in the Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação da Natureza (Federal Law No . 9,985 of 2000), only the categories reservas extrativistas and reservas de fauna were not found. Some environmental studies on enterprises that had Conservation Units in their area of influence did not mention the “interference in protected areas” impact. However, several measures to mitigate negative environmental impacts can be seen in the analyzed environmental studies. Thus, the enterprises in the Southeast region of Brazil have significantly affected the conservation units in a negative way, mainly the components of the physical and biotic environment. In addition, environmental studies do not fully report the severity of these impacts