Protected areas are intended to safeguard biodiversity in perpetuity, yet evidence suggests that widespread legal changes undermine protected area durability and efficacy. We documented these legal changes—protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD) events—in the United States and Amazonian countries and compiled available data globally. Governments of the United States and Amazonian countries enacted 269 and 440 PADDD events, respectively. Between 1892 and 2018, 73 countries enacted 3749 PADDD events, removing 519,857 square kilometers from protection and tempering regulations in an additional 1,659,972 square kilometers; 78% of events were enacted since 2000. Most PADDD events (62%) are associated with industrial-scale resource extraction and development, suggesting that PADDD may compromise biodiversity conservation objectives. Strategic policy responses are needed to address PADDD and sustain effective protected areas.

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Current state of knowledge on Espírito Santo mammals based on museum records and published data. Biota Neotrop. 8(2): http://www.biotaneotropica. org.br/v8n2/en/abstract?thematic-review+bn02108022008. Abstract:The state of Espírito Santo has been recognized as one of the richest Brazilian states in terms of species diversity, but the knowledge on its mammal fauna is still limited. Due to the lack of a complete list of wild mammals occurring in the state and to the scarcity of information associated to species records, we carried out a study on the state of scientific knowledge on mammal species in the state of Espírito Santo. We compiled a digital database with locality records of mammal species from published data and museum specimens. We used the software DIVA to verify where efforts for recording mammals are located and also where species richness is higher. As a result, we generated a list of 138 Espírito Santo mammals, which includes threatened animals and Atlantic Forest endemic species, and two species typical of the Cerrado. We found regions that are knowledge gaps, especially in the northern part of the state. There have been more mammal surveys in the micro regions "Central Serrana" and "Pólo Linhares". The list of mammal species is a guideline for future research, even though it is not exhaustive. We recommend conducting faunal surveys focusing on larger geographic areas and intensive sampling efforts, mainly in those regions where information is scarce.

Abstract

Water crises in Latin America are more a consequence of poor management than resource scarcity. Addressing water management issues through better coordination, identification of problems and solutions, and agreement on common objectives to operationalize integrated water resources management (IWRM) could greatly improve water governance in the region. Composite indices have great potential to help overcome capacity and information challenges while supporting better IWRM. We applied one such index, the Freshwater Health Index (FHI) in three river basins in Latin America (Alto Mayo, Perú; Bogotá, Colombia; and Guandu, Brazil) to assess freshwater ecosystem vitality, ecosystem services, and the water governance system in place. The approach included convening management agencies, water utilities, planning authorities, local NGOs and industries, community groups and researchers to co-implement the FHI. The results provide detailed information on the ecological integrity of each basin and the sustainability of the ecosystem services being provided. All three basins show very low scores for governance and stakeholder engagement, thus improving both in the region should be a priority. The results also shed light on how the FHI framework can help inform decision-making to improve IWRM implementation by facilitating stakeholder engagement while contributing to coordination, identification of problems and solutions as well as agreement on common objectives. Because implementation of IWRM is part of the solution for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.5 (“By 2030, implement IWRM at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate”), our case studies can serve as examples to other Latin American countries to achieve SDG 6.5.