Abstract
The executive and legislative branches of Brazilian government have either proposed or taken a variety of initiatives that threaten biodiversity and ecosystems. Opposition by the scientific community has largely been ignored by decision-makers. In this short essay, we present recent examples of harmful policies that have great potential to erode biodiversity, and we suggest ways to communicate scientific knowledge to decision- makers. If the current gap between conservation science and policies is not filled, the country will threaten the maintenance of its natural capital and, consequently, the sustainability of essential societal activities in the long term.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Ricardo C. Benine and Paula N. Coelho for comments and suggestions in the first version of this work. VMAS, CSO and ALBM were supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES); PMF, FMP, PSP, AAP, AAA and JRSV were supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).
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Communicated by David Hawksworth.
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Azevedo-Santos, V.M., Fearnside, P.M., Oliveira, C.S. et al. Removing the abyss between conservation science and policy decisions in Brazil. Biodivers Conserv 26, 1745–1752 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1316-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1316-x