Conservation Unities at the municipality of Vitória in the new context of the National System of Conservation Unities

Abstract

The first conservation movement happened in Vitória in the beginning of 20th Century, but the city became forty-year lagged concerning the conservation of its natural resources, since the first Conservation Unity – CU – made on the bases of a municipality initiative was only created in 1986. Only in 1941 there was the creation of an CU in Espírito Santo, the Biological Reserve Forest Rio Barra Seca, outlining the beginning of a process oriented and has proposed several other UC. Vitória was delayed in its conservational policies, since the first municipal UC, Municipal Ecological Station Island Lameirão, was only created 45 years later, in 1986. The evidence base used for the survey to characterize and categorize the UC Victoria was released by the public library of the Municipal Environment and official acts of government, published on the official site of the prefecture. For the recategorization and reframing of from UC Vitoria, the classification and management categories proposed by SNUC were applied. This study aimed to analyze the UC from the Municipality of Vitória-ES, on the framing and management from the perspective of the National System of Conservation Units – SNUC. Vitória reached 17 UC, with 3.337,27 ha covered with protected vegetation. Since SNUC was only created in 2000, most of the UC in Vitória do not fit its proposed categorization, and so, these natural areas become vulnerable to be transformed into Urban Parks, without adequate environmental protection, as had happened to the Municipal Ecological Reserve Morro da Gamela.