Owner of the largest river system in the world and the most expressive variety of amphibians and primates, Brazil currently has 1,173 species of fauna whose perpetuity is at risk.Another 318, although they are not about to disappear, also have their existence threatened.
The information is in the Red Book of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction 2018, the result of a study that included the participation of 1,270 researchers and which was announced on Friday (25) by the Chico Mendes Biodiversity Conservation Institute (ICMBio).
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Differing from the oldest national survey ever recorded, carried out in 1968 by the then competent environmental agency, the Brazilian Institute of Desenvolvimento Florestal (IBDF), the book addresses, in an unprecedented way, the risk of extinction of animal life in Brazil, since it covers all vertebrates that exist in the country. If only this portion is considered, the total number of species reaches almost 9,000.
With 4,200 pages, the new edition of the official list of endangered animals continues reports produced in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. The numbers in force review the lists published by the Ministry of the Environment at the end of 2014, according to ordinances nº 444 and 445 of the folder, and the Red Book 2008.
In addition, it updates some of the species nomenclatures previously used in these documents.
When comparing data from the 2008 book with the newest edition, it is possible to notice that 716 animal species from the territory Brazilians entered the list of those considered under threat of extinction, while 170 ceased to be part of it.
According to ICMBio, over all these years, the number of endangered species has only grown. In the list from the 1960s, for example, there were 44 species in this condition, including mammals, birds and reptiles, and 13 of the Brazilian flora. Of this total, 30 are still mentioned today, as they merit alert.
To prepare the 2018 Red Book, the researchers examined 12,254 taxa (classification units of living beings), of which 226 (1.8%) were included in the Not Applicable (NA) category for the evaluation, as they did not actually belong to the fauna local.
“Most of these species are birds, marine fish or marine mammals, many with migratory behavior, wide distribution outside Brazil and occurring only occasionally in Brazilian territory", explains the autarchy.
Another important evidence is that the Atlantic Forest is the biome with the highest number of endangered species, both in absolute numbers and in proportion to the richness of the biomes. Of the total number of endangered species in Brazil, 50.5% are found in the region, with 38.5% belonging to this biome.
Of the total taxa threatened with extinction, 1,013 (86%) are continental – which are opposed, in the researchers' division, to marine ones –, with 662 occurring in terrestrial environments and 351 in fresh water.
Environmental analyst Marcelo Marcelino de Oliveira, who commanded ICMBio's Directorate of Research, Assessment and Monitoring of Biodiversity when the survey was carried out, highlighted, in an interview, the relevance of the released work, arguing that it consists of a deepening of the inventories that preceded it.
“The increase in the number of threatened species reflects the scope of the research, which was greater. In 2014, there were 1,400 species, which became almost ten times greater. Now there are more than 12,000,” he said.
In the biologist's opinion, this is exactly what can be credited for the variation in the number of threatened species, observed from 2008 to 2018.
He adds that the change in the methodological system provided greater accuracy in the results, which, in some cases, it meant the removal of species from the list of those that must be monitored closely. attention. “We use criteria applied in several countries, such as loss of habitat quality. consecrated criteria.”
One of the deletions occurred with a species of howler monkey. According to Oliveira, the primate had been included in the list of endangered taxa, but was removed from it after reassessment.
The researchers, according to him, found that the animal was no longer concentrated in a single place, being, in the true, also present in other geographic points, which made it no longer fit the population criterion reduced. “With a new study, it was discovered that it also exists in Ceará and Maranhão, which showed that it was not in such a critical situation”, he says.
“There is a large contribution of species entering the list and a significant contribution of species also leaving”, he observed.
At the opening of the 2008 book, the Biodiversitas Foundation, which was responsible for coordinating the work at that stage, highlighted having used the scientific framework that he developed in 1997 and which was “generally accepted by all working on this subject in the Brazil".
In the book, ICMBio recalls that conservation units (CU) are the most used habitat protection instrument in the country today.
“At the end of 2017, Brazil had a total of 1,544,833 square kilometers of protected areas, or 2,029 conservation units across the country, 325 of which are managed by the Chico Mendes Institute.
Of the endangered species, 732 have registered occurrence in conservation units, in the categories provided for in the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC).
They include, for example, records of species that occur only occasionally in the PAs, such as species marine species that make large displacements, such as cetaceans and some elasmosbranchs”, writes the municipality in an excerpt from the book.
“For 429 taxa there is no record in conservation units, although 29 of them have probable occurrence. Continental fish are the group with the largest number of species not recorded in the UC and also the group with the largest number of species that are known not to occur in the UC”, he added.
ICMBio also recalls that, despite the role that conservation units have been playing, the preservation of biodiversity cannot depend on them, being necessary to develop “a matrix of conservation".
The institute points out the activities carried out within the scope of the National Action Plans for the Conservation of Endangered Species (PAN) and plans for the Reduction of Impacts on Biodiversity caused by Anthropogenic Activities (PRIM), which are still being duly structured.
According to the publication, 60 PANs have been implemented so far, together with the Jardim Botânico do Rio Research Institute de Janeiro, benefiting 700 endangered species, of which 526 are vertebrate species, 87 invertebrate species and 91 flora.
The impact of the protection actions was, according to Oliveira, something that was confirmed with the humpback whale, known for swimming above the perimeter of the National Marine Park of Abrolhos, on the coast of Bahia. “This is the best example. Several conservation efforts over 20, 30 years have improved its assessment [as to extinction risk].”
