The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has welcomed the announcement by the government of Brazil of a proposal to expand its marine conservation efforts by creating two major protected areas around the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago and around the Islands of Trindade and of Martim Vaz.
The
move represents a potentially significant contribution from Brazil to the
global marine protection movement, increasing the protected areas in national
seas from current 1.5 percent to 26.3 percent of the national maritime
territory.
“The
potential creation of these marine protected areas in remote areas of the
Atlantic Ocean is good news for ocean protection and will also help Brazil meet
the objectives of the GEF project on marine and coastal protection (GEF-Mar)
that is directly benefitting traditional and fishing communities,” said Gustavo
Fonseca, GEF Director of Programs.
The
government proposal would raise Brazil to the highest levels of marine
protection in comparison with other countries, which has been receiving wide
support domestically and abroad, from various government sectors and civil
society organizations.
A
joint effort from the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Defense, the
move envisages to reinforce national sovereignty in the South Atlantic,
fulfilling national and international commitments to protecting at least 10% of
its marine biome with biodiversity significance, following the 1992 Convention
on Biological Diversity, the 2020 Aichi Goals, as well as the 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals.
The
rock islets of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, located near the Equator line at
1000km from Northeastern Brazil and 1900km from Western Africa, constitute the
smallest and remotest tropical archipelago in the planet, visited in 1832 by
Charles Darwin, who studied the isolation that favors uniquely endemic species
that risk extinction today.
Further
South, resulting from the collision between cold ocean waters and the magma of
erupted volcanos from the mountain range underneath the South Atlantic around
3.5 million years ago, the island of Trindade is the only portion tipping above
sea level of the 1000km mountain range. Along with the Island of Martim Vaz,
Trindade would compose another major protected area in the announced plans of
the government.
