Evaluating the Management Effectiveness: The Specific Case of Environmental Protection Areas (APAs)

Abstract

The Environmental Protection Areas (APAs) categories are Conservation Units (CUs) with sustainable use of natural resources on private and public lands. It is well known that their management effectiveness depends on a better understanding of the social framework in which they are established. Besides, it is one of the principal tools for the conservation in Brazil and the most representative category in terms of area covering. Nowadays, there are several methodologies for evaluating and assessing the Management Effectiveness; however, there are limitations to the use of these methods applied to APAs, since it is a specific UC of the National System of Conservation Units and does not correspond directly with the categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Thus, this work focuses on developing a suitable method to evaluating the management effectiveness of APAs. In this way, the Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) with another 11 methodologies were adapted. As the RAPPAM methodology is designed to evaluate forest CUs, adaptive modifications were made to suit both a single area and APAs with marine and continental areas. The new methodology was tested by applying the questionnaire to a team from the APA of the Baleia Franca (APABF), located on the southern coast of Santa Catarina state. The results show that APABF has a management effectiveness of 49.4%, therefore, minimally satisfactory. This indicates that the APABF is not reaching the conservation goals and is highly vulnerable. It was concluded that the proposed method here met the expectation of APABF management efficiency evaluation.