A CONSERVATION GAP ANALYSIS OF BRAZIL AMAZONIAN VEGETATION

Vegetation types lacking protection in the existing conservation units of the nine states in the Brazilian Legal Amazon were identified, and locations were noted where these vegetation types could be protected. Maps of vegetation, protected areas, and semi-protected areas, such a s Amerindian and forestry reserves, were digitized and overlaid using a geographic information system. There are 28 natural vegetation types in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. Locations of new areas for protection were selected using a minimum criterion of protecting at least one exa mple of each vegetation type in each state (here called ''vegetation z ones''). There are 111 vegetation zones in the Legal Amazon, of which only 37 (33%) have some portion of their area protected. There are few protected areas in the most heavily deforested states along the south eastern fringe of the forest. In Maranhao, where 60% of the original f orest had been lost by 1990, only one of 10 vegetation types is protec ted. Negotiating agreements with indigenous tribes, and to a lesser ex tent with extractivists who harvest nontimber products from the forest , represents a major opportunity to increase significantly the area an d representativeness of the conservation units. Additional conservatio n units need to be established quickly before rapidly increasing defor estation and land prices preclude this opportunity; otherwise, some ve getation types may virtually disappear.