Dismantling Brazil's science threatens global biodiversity heritage

• Main Authors: G. Wilson Fernandes, Mariana M. Vale, Gerhard E. Overbeck, Mercedes M.C. Bustamante, Carlos E.V. Grelle, Helena Godoy Bergallo, William E. Magnusson, Alberto Akama, Suelen S. Alves, André Amorim, Joaquim Araújo, Claudia Franca Barros, Freddy Bravo, Marcelo J. Veiga Carim, Rui Cerqueira, Rosane Garcia Collevatti, Guarino R. Colli, Catia Nunes da Cunha, Paulo Sergio D’Andrea, José Carmine Dianese, Soraia Diniz, Pedro Cordeiro Estrela, Mariluce R.M. Fernandes, Carla Suertegaray Fontana, Leandro L. Giacomin, Luis Fernando P. Gusmão, Flora Acuña Juncá, Ana Carolina Borges Lins-e-Silva, Celia R.A.S. Lopes, Maria Lucia Lorini, Luciano Paganucci de Queiroz, Luiz R. Malabarba, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Marcia C.M. Marques, Bruno M. Martinelli, Marlucia Bonifacio Martins, Hermes Fonseca de Medeiros, Marcelo Menin, Paula Benevides de Morais, Francisca Helena Muniz, Selvino Neckel-Oliveira, João Alves de Oliveira, Reyjane P. Oliveira, Fernando Pedroni, Jerry Penha, Luciana R. Podgaiski, Domingos J. Rodrigues, Aldicir Scariot, Luís Fábio Silveira, Marcos Silveira, Walfrido Moraes Tomas, Marcos J. Salgado Vital, Valério D. Pillar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-07-01
• Series: Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation
• Subjects: Biodiversity research network; Brazil; Global environmental commitments; Political and fiscal crisis
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2530064417300809

In the middle of a political and fiscal crisis, the Brazilian government is applying successive budget cuts, including in science funding. Recent cuts radically affect research programs on biodiversity that are crucial components for the design and monitoring of public policies for nature conservation and sustainable development. We analyze the consequences of such cuts on the Research Program on Biodiversity (PPBio), the largest biodiversity research network in Brazil (626 researchers, nine networks in all Brazilian biomes). Brazil holds a substantial part of the world's biodiversity and of tropical forests that play a significant role for regional and global climate stability. If underfunding is maintained, the dismantling of the Brazilian PPBio will have consequences that go beyond biodiversity knowledge itself but affect society as a whole. Brazil will likely fail to reach the National Targets for Biodiversity 2011–2020, and it will be difficult to fulfill the restoration target of the Brazilian NDC and to advance with the sustainable development goals.