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In July, Brazil marked Forest Protection Day (17 July), a date that invites reflection on the different strategies developed to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems. Among them, the creation of protected areas is one of the most established instruments. However, the understanding of what should be protected, and of the role of people in biodiversity conservation, has changed over time.

The creation of Yellowstone National Park in the United States in 1872 is considered a landmark in biodiversity conservation, as it helped disseminate internationally a model based on setting aside specific territories exclusively for nature protection. At the time, the prevailing approach established a strict separation between areas designated for nature conservation and those intended for different types of use. This model influenced the creation of new protected areas in different parts of the world.

As research on biodiversity, ecology and the relationships between society and nature advanced, the establishment of protected areas began to consider not only biodiversity protection, but also the role of people in the conservation and management of natural resources, including Indigenous Peoples, traditional communities, rural landowners and other stakeholders. Different models therefore began to incorporate ways of reconciling biodiversity conservation with the sustainable use of natural resources.

Protect or share the landscape?

Part of this discussion is reflected in the debate between the concepts of land sparing and land sharing.

Under the land-sparing model, conservation and productive areas are spatially separated: certain areas are primarily designated for biodiversity protection, while production is concentrated in other parts of the landscape. Under the land-sharing model, conservation and production coexist within the same landscape through productive practices designed to reduce the impacts of human activities on biodiversity. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive, and studies have shown that combining strategies can be effective depending on the ecological, productive and social characteristics of each landscape. This debate reflects a broader shift in how the establishment of protected areas can and should take into account the different ways in which land is used.

Protected Areas in Brazil and their categories

In Brazil, protected areas are governed by the National System of Nature Conservation Units (Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação da Natureza, SNUC), established by Law No. 9,985 of 18 July 2000. The system established criteria and regulations for the creation, implementation and management of Conservation Units (Unidades de Conservação, UCs), organising different forms of nature protection according to their objectives and permitted uses.

The SNUC divides Conservation Units into two main groups: Strict Protection and Sustainable Use. Strict Protection UCs are primarily intended to preserve nature and allow only the indirect use of natural resources, including activities such as ecotourism and environmental education. This group comprises five categories: Ecological Station, Biological Reserve, National Park, Natural Monument and Wildlife Refuge. Sustainable Use UCs, in turn, seek to reconcile nature conservation with the sustainable use of part of their natural resources, such as the management of pirarucu (*Arapaima gigas*) and the traditional harvesting of native açaí (*Euterpe oleracea*). They comprise seven categories: Environmental Protection Area, Area of Relevant Ecological Interest, National Forest, Extractive Reserve, Fauna Reserve, Sustainable Development Reserve and Private Natural Heritage Reserve.

This diversity of categories allows different conservation strategies to be adopted according to the ecological and social characteristics of each territory. While some Conservation Units impose greater restrictions on the direct use of natural resources, others allow productive activities, the presence of local populations and private properties, provided that these are compatible with their conservation objectives. Currently, the number of UCs varies widely across Brazil’s biomes, and Sustainable Use UCs account for approximately 70% of the area covered by the SNUC, with more than half of this area corresponding to Environmental Protection Areas (Áreas de Proteção Ambiental, APAs).

Conservation also takes place outside protected areas

In Brazil, the perspective of conserving biodiversity beyond protected areas is particularly relevant: more than half of the remaining native vegetation is located on private properties, according to information compiled by the GEF Private Areas project. This means that biodiversity conservation depends not only on the creation and management of protected areas by public authorities, but also on the ability of public policies to incorporate private properties, productive areas and other territories into biodiversity conservation strategies.

It is within this context that the GEF Private Areas – *Realising the Potential for Biodiversity Conservation on Private Lands in Brazil* project operates. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), implemented by the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS) and coordinated by Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA), the project seeks to expand sustainable landscape management and contribute to biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem services on private lands.

However, in a country as large as Brazil, where each region has its own particularities, the effectiveness of a public policy does not unfold in the same way across different locations. In this context, the designation of Priority Areas for the Conservation, Sustainable Use and Benefit-Sharing of Brazilian Biodiversity, defined within the framework of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, is one of the instruments used to guide policies and actions related to conservation, ecosystem restoration and the sustainable use of biodiversity.

The identification of priority areas for conservation is part of different projects developed by IIS and illustrates how models that emphasised the separation between areas designated for nature and those occupied by people (land sparing) have evolved to take into account different forms of protection, sustainable use and land management.

Protecting forests continues to depend on Conservation Units, but it is not limited to them. It also depends on connectivity between natural areas, conservation on private lands, the restoration of native vegetation and planning where to conserve, restore and produce. In a context of biodiversity loss and climate change, understanding these relationships is part of the challenge of building landscapes capable of reconciling nature conservation with human activities.