Áreas prioritárias para a Conservação na Amazônia - Conservação das Aves Ameaçadas

Abstract

Given the current biodiversity crisis, assessments using indicator groups that are able to represent biodiversity are considered of extreme importance to propose good conservation measures. The identification of priority areas has become a challenge for conservation biology due to changes in the natural landscape caused by human activities. Our study highlighted priority regions for conservation through a performance evaluation of the protected areas from the region (considering Integral Protected Areas) in the protection of 41 endangered bird species. We used an approach from the Systematic Conservation Planning, in which the selection of protected areas must obey the criteria of complementarity. The areas considered of extreme importance for the protection of the Amazon birds are concentrated in the Central region of the Brazilian Legal Amazon. The current network of units from the Integral Protected Areas category did not show itself to be efficient for conservation. The selection of areas with high conservation value is fundamental to reconcile biological diversity with development planning. The assessment performed is a tool to support the decision-making process for action plans based on bird conservation. This assessment reduces the subjectivity when choosing conservation priorities. However, it does not replace public consultation in determining them. The results indicate the need of expanding the protected areas system and consolidating the existing ones.