Beyond Greening - Tourism Watch

Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Process | PositioningpaperFlaws in Brazil´s RESEX and lack of leadership by President Dilma RousseffThe use of protected areas, be it for integral protection or for sustainable use, is one of the keysto sustainable development. Countries have been slow in living up to their commitments fromthe World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg ten years ago.Brazil, even though with an exemplary legislation and reserves for sustainable use, needs to domore to expand the number of RESEX and other marine protected areas to protect an area often percent of the marine territory as established in the United Nations Convention onBiological Diversity (UNCBD), and make sure they are properly implemented, withmanagement plans in place to avoid a system of "paper parks". There is a need to accelerate theimplementation of protected areas with resilience towards climate change with plans formitigation and tools for local economic development. The ICMBio is in dire need ofinstitutional strengthening, qualified human resources and sufficient financial resources tooperate. The implementation of many reserves is lagging due to lack of managers with a socioeconomicscience background and lack of skills for conflict resolution (Gerhardinger, 2011).The upcoming conference onsustainable development Rio+20 wouldhave been a great opportunity topresent RESEX as a solution tosustainable forms of governance forreplication around the world, butPresident Dilma Rousseff has shown alack of environmental stewardship andleadership. Since she took office inJanuary 2011, no new RESEX have beencreated and even worse; existingprotected areas, especially in theAmazon, have been reduced in size toplease local politicians and agrobusinesses.Environmental legislation isconstantly being weakened by executiveorders and parliamentary initiatives to favour short-term economic benefits oversustainability. This leaves us with a bleak outlook for the "green economy" that should comeout of Rio+20.82