Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins ...

Water Resour Manage DOI 10.1007/s11269-014-0754-4

Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins and the Coastal Zone in Brazil Stella Emery Santana & Gilberto Fonseca Barroso

Received: 25 July 2013 / Accepted: 15 July 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract International society has begun to consider river basins and the coastal zone as one management unit that requires an ecosystem approach. Various countries have undertaken initiatives since the 1970s and have improved the approach to integrated coastal zone management. Brazil has not been one of them. Its sector-based approach to most environmental issues started in the 1980s with the National Environmental Policy Act (Law 6,938/1981). The National Coastal Zone Management Plan (NCZMP) was then approved by Law 7,661 in 1988. Shortly thereafter, the 1988 Brazilian Constitution was enacted, which established the environment as a common good to be used by the entire society but in such a way as to prevent environmental degradation and conserve its quality for present and future generations. The National Water Resources Policy (NWRP) was not enacted until 1997 (Law 9,433/1997). This law established that water resource management in Brazil must take into account estuarine ecosystems and the coastal zone, using an integrated approach. Only in 2006 did the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) create a technical chamber dedicated to developing regulatory measures for integrated management in Brazil. There has been substantial discussion and various proposals to implement it, as outlined in this article. This paper concludes with suggestions for implementing integrated river basin and coastal zone management in Brazil. Keywords Water resources management . Brazil . Integrated river basin and coastal zone management . Estuary Abbreviations CIRM CONAMA EBM

Interministerial Commission of Marine Resources National Environmental Council Ecosystem Based Management

S. E. Santana (*) Environmental Oceanography Graduate Program, Laboratório de Limnologia e Planejamento Ambiental. Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES, Brasil CEP 29075-910 e-mail: [email protected] G. F. Barroso Department of Oceanography and Ecology, Laboratório de Limnologia e Planejamento Ambiental. Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, ES, Brasil CEP 29075-910 e-mail: [email protected]

S.E. Santana, G.F. Barroso

IGCM NCZMP NWRC NWA TC-IMRBECZ UNCED

Integration Group of Coastal Management National Coastal Zone Management Plan National Water Resources Council National Water Agency Technical Chamber for Integrated Management of River Basin, Estuarine Systems and Coastal Zone United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

1 Introduction Integrated management of the land-ocean interface must take into account the connectivity between coastal river basins and coastal waters, particularly as it concerns natural resources and their social and economic effects. Traditional management systems as understood within a sector-by-sector management approach have been applicable in most scenarios. However, as human activities intensify in the coastal zone, it is becoming necessary to approach coastal zone and river basin management differently and to look for a more effective, sustainable approach that addresses these interactions from an ecosystem perspective. To achieve an integrated management of coastal resources, elements such as population growth and distribution, urbanization, consumer patterns, the production of trash and the use of available resources must be incorporated into the approach. Brazil’s integrated approach is the main subject of this article, which will present policies concerning the river basin system, coastal zone and then the initiatives toward an integrated management of both in the country. The analysis is presented using legislation, as the comparing unit of this study. At the end it will concludes with policies and political suggestions to develop a more efficient integrated management of river basin and coastal zone in Brazil.

2 The Importance of the Integrated Approach for River Basin and Coastal Zones Several specific relationships between the coastal zone and the watershed must be considered. Both areas are used intensively by humans to provide space, produce resources and absorb non-desirable products. In addition, everything that happens upstream affects the downstream system, including water use, soil control, water contamination and wood collection (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999). Land-ocean interface is also characterized by the connectivity between natural processes and socioeconomic activities such as that found in (a) the water cycle that determines the quality and quantity of drinkable water as well as sea water quality and therefore affects the coastal ecosystem and human activities along the shore; (b) the transport of sediments, which affects the fluvial channels and the coastal zone dynamics, as well as the ecosystem and human activities; and (c) human activities along the river basin that affect the coastal ecosystem, which can have a positive impact on human actions in the coastal zone by providing water and energy or a negative impact by using river water for agricultural and discharging sewage (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999). There are also interconnections that occur in isolation in upstream and coastal systems, and they form an important part of the integrated management concept. Although these occur separately, their effects determine certain aspects of the management program. In the coastal area, there must be sufficient information about the interactions among coastal basins, the estuarine circulation system, the transport of sediments along the coast, the species that are

Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins and Coastal Zone

exploited for commercial purposes or recreational value, the water supply, sewage treatment and road construction (Sorensen 1993). The coast also hosts a unique blend of economic interests because it is the site for ports and harbor facilities and the location for industrial processes that require water (Cicin-sain and Knecht 1998). In the river basin, the land-based processes that drive hydrological fluxes and other issues related to water, sediments, nutrients and pollutants affect the ecological integrity of the coast and therefore must be considered in integrated management (Osborn and Datta 2006). An integrated management approach must also consider that the coastal zone represents a very important system in the global cycling of key biogeochemical elements. It receives inputs of terrestrial materials such as suspended sediments and nutrients in dissolved or particulate forms through river and groundwater discharge, and it exchanges great amounts of energy and matter with the open ocean (Dürr et al. 2011). In the international sphere it has been produced several agreements since the 1992 UNCED concerning the integrated approach to manage coasts, oceans and river basins. The selection was based on the emphasis on the different functions of Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management each one of them have. Although the main purpose of this article is to present the Brazilian system for integrated river basin and coastal zone management, international experiences such as: the 1999 Guidelines For Integrated Coastal Area And River Basin Management – ICARM/UNEP (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999), the 2000 European Union Framework Water Directive – 2000/60/EC (EUFWD), the Integrated Coastal Area And River Basin Management – The Oder/Odra Case Study (Schernewski et al 2005); the LandOcean Interactions In The Coastal Zone – LOICZ Program – Report IGBP 51/IHDP 18 (Kremer et al 2005); and the Protocol On Integrated Coastal Zone Management in The Mediterranean (01/21/2008) (EU 2008) are important experiences that will help to develop Brazil’s integrated goals. It is interesting to point out the concept of integrated coastal zone management understood in the Protocol in the Mediterranean as a dynamic process of management and sustainable use of coastal zone that takes into consideration simultaneously the weakness of ecosystems and coastal scenery, the diversity of activities and uses, its interactions, the maritime orientation for specific uses and activities as well as its marine and terrestrial repercussions (EU 2008). The EUWDF must also be pointed out as it provides the concept of transitional waters as an important area for management, and in this case it creates this new focus for integrated management, this issue is related to the land/ocean interface alternatives, through policies (Gober 2013; Wiek and Larson 2012; Kojima et al 2012). 2.1 General Concepts of the Land/Ocean Interface Above all, the linkage between the land and the sea involves a series of coastal zone characteristics (Crossland et al. 2005) that are all management-related issues. Coastal zones have a variety of habitats and ecosystems (estuaries, coral reefs, sea grass beds, etc.) that provide goods and services to coastal communities. The physical locations are valuable for a series of stakeholders. There are economic interests represented by ports, the shipping process, oil and gas development, and coastal tourism. Finally, coastal zones also have high population densities and a great demand for urbanization and infrastructure. Estuaries are the centers of these connections between the land and the ocean, and they can be considered special areas for integrated river basin and coastal zone management. It is interesting to examine the Portuguese legal concept of an estuary as a transitional zone located at the mouth of a river between river and coastal waters (PORTUGAL/CNA 2012). They may also be understood as the transitional zones between land and the ocean that present a variety


of forms and hydrological regimes. Estuaries have important functions in navigation, fisheries and aquaculture, mining of aggregates, sewage and waste disposal, fuel wood production (mangrove trees), ports and ferry terminals, shrimp farms and fish ponds, and cooling water inlets and outlets, as well as for pipelines (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999). Integrated management occurs when there is a plan that can connect and establish transparent relationships among the uses (Table 1) and users (Table 2) of the area. It is possible, according to Cicin-sain and Knecht (1998), to describe the major uses and activities of both coastal zones and river basins (UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999) as follows (Table 1): Understand and describe the most important uses of a specific system allow a more realistic management of the area. Even though Table 1 describes general uses, in every country and region it will be necessary to analyze what are the specific uses and activities that take place in that area. This analysis will have to occur with appropriate general studies. Along with the uses, it will also be necessary to define who are the major users and stakeholders of the specific integrated river basin and coastal zone area, as described on Table 2. With a good understanding of the uses and users (Reed 2012; Ren et al 2013; Akhbari and Grigg 2013; Elsawah et al 2013; Roozbahani et al 2013), it is possible to propose integrated river basin and coastal management actions that coordinate the natural and socio-economic systems that have been previously outlined by national policies (Geng and Wardlaw 2013). It is also important to bear in mind that each region has its own characteristics and needs; so integrated management must be tailored to local conditions.

Table 1 Major activities and uses of coastal zones and river basins (Based on Cicin-sain and Knecht 1998 and UNEP/MAP/PAP 1999) AREA COASTAL ZONE

Use/Activity Navigation and communications Living Marine Resources Mineral and energy resources Tourism and recreation Coastal infrastructure development Waste disposal and pollution prevention Protection of ocean and coastal environmental quality Beach and shoreline management Military activities Research

RIVER BASIN

Water supply Tourism and landscape Recreation Living riverine resources Land use Navigation Hydro-electric power generation Urban development Deforestation Agriculture Aquaculture Construction of physical infrastructure Emission of waste and pollutants Nature conservation and wildlife habitat management

Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins and Coastal Zone Table 2 Major users/stakeholders of river basins and coastal zones and their primary roles (Based on EU/SMAP 1995) Stakeholders

Actions

Different government levels

Those who have legal responsibility for the area.

Industries

Those who have their activities controlled by the government.

Population/tourists/ non governmental organizations

Those who use and/or protect the resources.

Scientific community

Those who may be involved in management actions or may be able to provide scientific information.

From an ecological perspective, integrated river basin and coastal zone management should be based on ecosystem approach. This concept comes from the discussion and consequently approval of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development – UNCED - in Rio de Janeiro. It understands that the ecosystem is a strategy “for integrated management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and sustainable use in an equitable way… it recognizes that humans, are an integral component of many ecosystems”. Therefore it will be necessary an adaptive management concerning the complex dynamic nature of ecosystems specially where there are not enough knowledge to understand its functions and relations. Beyond all this, it is crucial to take into consideration that there is not a single formula that deals with ecosystem approach, but instead, to implement it will have to be analysed by local, provincial, state, national, regional or global conditions (UNEP 2009). This analysis take into consideration EBM (Ecosystem Based Management) (Sena and Freitas 2012; Liu et al 2012), which overcomes sector-by-sector approach and this method used along the years has shown insufficient to provide sustainability of water resources (Barroso et al 2012), goods and services from natural resources (Kremer et al 2005) and conflict resolution from different users (Belfiore et al 2006), just to mention a few major examples. To understand how to apply integrated watershed and coastal zone management in Brazil, we present the legal framework that supports the idea below, as well as the Brazilian approach to integrated management.

3 Legal Framework for Coastal and Watershed Management in Brazil Brazil is well known for its immense river basin system, comprising 12 major basins: Amazon, Tocantins Araguaia, Paraguay, Occident Northeast Atlantic, Orient Northeast Atlantic, Parana, Parnaíba, San Francisco, East Atlantic, Southeast Atlantic, South Atlantic and Uruguay (BRAZIL/ANA 2012) (Fig. 1). It is also well known for its considerable coastline of 8,511 km (BRAZIL/MMA 2013) (Fig. 1), where 23.6 % of the Brazilian population lives by the ocean (BRAZIL/IBGE 2010). Like the majority of countries in the world, Brazil manages its natural resources through sector-by-sector programs (Agardy et al 2011; Veiga and Magrini 2013). The history of coastal management is longer than river basin management in Brazil. In the early 1980s, Brazil had compelling reasons to start protecting the coast, years before river basins received comparable attention. The exploitation of natural resources, especially oil, had a substantial economic impact and spurred the government’s interest in coastal zones. At the same time, the country was governed by a military dictatorship, and it was a matter of national security to control the coast and its economy. It quickly became clear that a management

Fig. 1 Brazilian Pfafstetter basins and maritime jurisdiction zones (Source: BRAZIL/ANA 2012)



program was necessary as the first step toward protecting natural resources (controlling the use of the coastal zone). The legal framework of coastal laws is presented in Table 3. It is important to understand that Table 3 describes coastal zone laws first because they were developed before water resources management in Brazil. As it may be observed from the previous table, with the exception of the 2011 Resolution n.6, all the others focus on the coastal zone without its integrated approach. Since the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, coastal zones have been regulated as a national heritage, which means that general management policies must be created by the federal government, and its control could be passed to states and local governments. River basins were only taken as the geographic units for water management in Brazil beginning in 1997 (law 9433) and the development of the legal framework for river basins is presented in Table 4. As shown on Table 4, if compared to Table 3, there are a lot more legal norms related to river basins than there are to coastal zone. And also, the integrated approach in Brazil is done through the 1997 Law 9433, when it mandates that there will have to be an integrated river basin management with coastal zone management. And from this obligation on, the National Water Resources Committee started to develop how this approach would work. The fundamental principles for the integration of water resources, the environment and coastal zones in Brazil began to be established in 2001 at the First National workshop for the integration of inland and coastal waters in Vitoria, Espírito Santo. The main goal of this event was to discuss issues related to the concessions of use for coastal water resources. It was only in 2004 that the demand for integrated policies was renewed at the National Forum of River Basin Committees that took place in the city of Gramado in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2005, the First National Meeting for the Integrated Management of the River Basins and the Coastal Zone took place in the city of Itajaí, Santa Catarina (BRAZIL/MMA 2006). Even though the Brazilian management system began with the coast, it was the river basin management mandated under Resolution 51 of the NWRC that created the Technical Chamber for Integrated Management of River Basins, Estuarine Systems and the Coastal Zone (TCTable 3 The legal framework for governance of the Brazilian coastal zone (Based on BRAZIL/MMA 2013) Year Legal name/Number

Goal

1980 Decree 05/12

General goals establishing the National Policy for marine resources

1981 Law 6938

National Environmental Policy

1988 Law 7661

National Coastal Management Plan

1988 Federal Constitution

Establishes environmental protection as a Constitutional principle. Established the coastal zone as national property and a common heritage.

1990 CIRM Resolution 01

Guidelines for the First National Coastal Management Plan

1996 Defense Ministry Port. 0440 1997 CIRM Resolution 05

Creates of the Integration Group of Coastal Management (IGCM), directed by the Ministry of the Environment II National Plan for Coastal Management

1998 CIRM

Federal Action Plan for the Coastal Zone

2004 Decree 5300

Establishes the legal boundaries for coastal zone, rules for the use and occupation, and management tools.

2005 CIRM Resolution 07 2005 Decree 5377

Revision of the Federal Action Plan for the Coastal Zone Approves the National Policy for Marine Resources

2011 CIRM Resolution 06/2011 VIII Sectorial Plan for Marine Resources. New approach of participative and integrated management CIRM: Interministerial Commission of Marine Resources


IMRBESCZ). It also determined that the general integrated goals would be addressed by the Ministry of Environment. This technical chamber was created in response to the demands voiced in the 2005 meeting. It followed the legal prescription of law 9433/1997, article 3, VI, which constitutes general guidance for actions to implement the national policy on water resources, among other issues, the integrated management of river basins with the estuarine systems and the coastal zone.

Table 4 The legal framework for governance of Brazilian water resources (Based on BRAZIL/CNRH 2013) Year

Legal name/Number

Goal

1997

Law 9433

1999

NWRC Resolution 03

National Policy for Water Resources and creation of the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) Creation of working groups for developing proposals for technical chambers

2000

Law 9984

Creation of National Water Agency (NWA)

2000

NWRC Resolution 05

National guidelines for the formation and work of the river basin committees

2000

NWRC Resolution 12

2001

NWRC Resolution 15

Establishes the proceedings for determining a body of waters according to its uses General guidelines for groundwater management

2001

NWRC Resolution 17

Guidelines for the creation of the Water Resources Plans of the river basins

2003

Decree 4613

Establishes rules for the NWRC

2004

Law 10.881

2005

NWRC Resolution 51

Manages the contracts between NWA and other entities for water resources management that belong to the federal government Creates the technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone within the NWRC

2005

NWRC Resolution 56

Establishes the composition for the technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone

2006

NWRC Resolution 58

Approves the National Plan for Water resources

2006

NWRC Resolution 67

Approves the Guidelines for implementation of the National Plan for Water Resources

2007

NWRC Resolution 76

Establishes guidelines for the integrated management of Water resources with mineral, thermal, gas and water table management.

2007

NWRC Resolution 79

2008

NWRC Resolution 85

2009

NWRC Resolution 98

2009

NWRC Resolution 105

2011

NWRC Resolution 135

Establishes the composition for the technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone Changes resolution 79 that establishes the composition for the technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone Establishes guidelines for education, capacity building, social mobilization and information for the integrated management of water resources in the National System of Water Resources Management Establishes the composition for the technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone from 12/01/2009 till 11/30/2011 National Plan for Water Resources, priorities 2012–2015 as a result of the first revision of the National Plan for Water Resources

2011

NWRC Resolution 136

Establishes the composition for the NWRC Technical chamber for integrated management of river basins, estuarine systems and the coastal zone from 12/01/2011 till 11/30/2013

2012

NWRC Resolution 145

Establishes guidelines for the elaboration of the Water Resources Plans for the river basins


To make integrated management possible, the Ministry of Environment (BRAZIL/MMA 2006) analyzed all of the regulatory instruments that Brazil had for coastal zone, environmental and water resource management and presented the following summary (Table 5). As it was a common policy internationally, the instruments above show a sector-by-sector approach to coastal zone and watershed management in Brazil. This trend was the only alternative the country could do, specially when the 1988 Constitution was issued, it established that all natural resources would be management by the government, and all regulations that would be enacted related to this issues should follow this structure: federal government must approve general laws, state governments must obey the general laws created by the federal government and may enact a more restrictive regulation, and local governments must follow federal and state regulations and may enact the more restrictive law than all the others. So, the system adopted in Brazil had no other alternative than elaborate and approve a sector-by-sector regulation, as it was also traditionally done since Brazil was a Portuguese colony. The changes will only occur when the country get more involved in the international discussions concerning development over natural resources and most specifically, over water. As in the international arena there were experiences dealing with integrated EBM of river basins and coastal zone, by 2005 these experiences overseas were also present in the discussions made in the federal level in Brazil, most specifically at the TC-IMRBESCZ. The first proposal by the Technical Chamber was to create an integrated system based on the integration of the instruments, showing that it would be possible to have an integrated approach to river basins and coastal zones according to the existing legal framework. This proposal is further explained below.

4 The Brazilian Approach to Integrated Management As previously mentioned, the Brazilian approach to integrated management is based on Law 9433/1997 and Resolution NWRC 51/2005. All other modifications to the integrated approach will be made by the Technical Chamber for the Integrated Management of River Basins, Estuarine Systems and the Coastal Zone (TC-IMRBECZ) as created under the Ministry of Environment Agenda through the NWRC. The main idea of the TC-IMRBECZ is to have all of the stakeholders within the federal government who are interested in this specific issue represented as members of the Chamber to address the integrated management guidelines for Brazil, along with a few representatives from civil society. To do so, the composition of the chamber is as follows (Table 6): This structure (Table 6) represents how Brazil defines public policies in the federal government agenda. There are representatives of the federal government (horizontal power exchange), as well as states government (vertical power accessibility) and civil society (a fundamental step towards the country democratization process since the 1988 Constitution). With this structure there are a few problems that emerge, such as: each Ministry that participates has its own agenda, so every single subject that must be included in the integrated management guidelines for the country, by the horizontal power exchange is difficult to find common interests with so many different agents represented; another issue is related to states’ participation as Brazil has 27 (twenty seven) states, 17 (seventeen) of them are coastal ones, and the total of 5 (five) are current in the TC-IMRBECZ and this amount do not represent a decent percentage of coastal states and their needs; and as for civil society participation, to be included in a federal technical chamber in the country means that the group has enough money to attend all meetings in Brasilia, the capital (it is very expensive to buy airline tickets and hotel stays in the capital), and each segment represented also show their own interest and do not

S.E. Santana, G.F. Barroso Table 5 Coastal Zone, Environmental and Water Resource Management (based on BRAZIL/MMA 2006) Management Sector

Instruments

Coastal Zone

National Plan for coastal management State plans for coastal management Local plans for coastal management National Information system for coastal management Environmental monitoring system for the coastal zone Environmental Quality report for the coastal zone Coastal Ecologic economic zoning Management plan for the coastal zone Federal Action plan for the coastal zone Macro diagnosis for the coastal zone

Environment (adapted from Law 6938/81 and altered by Law 12651/2012)

Creation of National patterns of environmental quality Environmental zoning Evaluation of environmental impacts Licensing and the revision of activities that are potentially polluting Incentives for the production and installation of equipment and the creation or adoption of technologies that can increase the environmental quality Creation of special protected areas by the Federal, state and local levels National Environmental Information System Federal Technical database of Activities and Instruments of Environmental Defense Disciplinary or compensatory sanctions to those who do not follow all the necessary measures to preserve or correct environmental degradation Creation of the Environmental Quality Report The guarantee that the Public sector will provide environmental information, as well as produce it, when there are any available. Federal Technical database of potentially polluting activities and/or those that use natural resources Economic instruments

Water resources

Water Resources plans Classifying water bodies according to the water quality directive framework (CONAMA Resolution 357/2005) Concession of the rights to use water resources Tariff for the use of water resources Local compensation Water Resources Information System

CONAMA – National Environmental Council

necessarily believe that integrated river basin and coastal zone management should be combined, as for a sector-by-sector management they are able to participate in several federal meetings. In other words, only money can make representation possible in the federal level and most groups of users are not represented. In 2008, the TC-IMRBECZ started to draft a resolution for approval by the NWRC and the Ministry of Environment that obligated all River Basins Plans with a coastal zone connection to integrate both systems into their plans. The resolution was presented to all members for analysis. The general idea of the first draft of the resolution was to use the Water Resources Network, which already was functioning, and to develop the coastal zone approach from it, creating a zoning system that would represent the integrated area. This zoning system would be divided into Critical, Dynamic and Influence Zones, each of which is described in the first draft of the resolution (Zamboni, Nicolodi & Barroso 2007). As French (1997) stated, “it is only by viewing the coast as a single unit it can become possible to use it in a sustainable way. In order for this to be the case, we need a management scheme for each part of the coast”.

Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins and Coastal Zone Table 6 Composition of TC-IMRBECZ (NWRC Resolution 136/2011) – (based on BRAZIL/NCRH 2013) Technical chamber IMRBECZ

Ministry of Transportation Ministry of National Integration Ministry of Defense Ministry of Environment

Water resources and urban environment office National Water Agency

Ministry of Mining and Energy Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Water Resources States Chambers

Espirito Santo state São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states

Water and sewage public services Fishermen and water users for tourism and recreation River basin committees Technical organizations Education and research organizations Non-governmental Organization (NGOs)

Dividing the interface between land and ocean into zones would follow these ideas. Another critical proposal was the selection of the institutional actors, which would be made by the National Water Resources Council. The draft had some changes in 2009 and has yet to be approved (BRAZIL/CNRH 2013). In 2011, a consultant from UNESCO (project NWA/UNESCO 704BRA2041) was hired to give technical support to the National Water Agency with Program IX – Integrated Water Resources and Coastal Zone Management, including mangroves. The program is part of the National Water Resources Plan. The consultant affirmed that there would be a problem with the territorial basis used both by the Water Resources Management and the Coastal Zone management for the country. That is, the two management schemes use different territorial bases for their management, and therefore, it will be necessary to redefine the geographic space to integrate the policies. It was also noted that the territorial dimension of integrated management must be discussed locally in each area with managers and local committees to identify further studies needed to define the management areas. (BRAZIL/ANA 2010). According to Program IX, there is a lack of communication and coordination between the private sector and the different governmental agencies in Brazil (at all three levels: federal, states and local). For this process to result in a coherent system for integrated management, the responsibilities of each stakeholder must be established and the management of each sector must be integrated and interconnected. The legal framework is as large as the country of Brazil, with a series of federal, states and local statutes that must be harmonized. Pilot projects in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Espírito Santo and Alagoas have been proposed as a useful approach to initiating the integration of this management in Brazil, with general coordination by the Ministry of Environment but with a transversal dialogue with shared decisions and coresponsibility processes at all levels of government. Each experience can contribute to the basic model for the country, and each should also consider local characteristics. The recommended activities for the three regions of the pilot program are described on Table 7 (BRAZIL/ CNRH 2013). The lack of scientific information about the intercession zones of river basins and coastal area in the country is a major problem. In general, because of interest of Universities’ professors there are a few initiatives to understand physical, chemical, sociological, economic and legal knowledge of the area, but it is still not fast enough according to the country’s actual development agenda. Brazil approved in 1981 a National Environmental Policy (Law 6938), and it states that when the country does not have information on any

S.E. Santana, G.F. Barroso Table 7 Activities that will be developed in the three pilot projects for integrated river basin and coastal management in Brazil (based on BRAZIL/CNRH 2013) Activity

Detail

1. Characterization of the Institutional framework Identification of the institutional framework to support integrated management, establishing connections and different responsibilities for fostering it. 2. Mapping stakeholders and strategic groups Defining the most important stakeholders, as well as establishing public agency responsibilities. 3. Establish negotiation rounds

Structure the negotiation group with the previously identified stakeholders in order to establish a protocol to create articulated measures to implement integrated river basin and coastal zone management, including mangroves.

4. Define institutional coordination to approve the protocol for integrated management

Defining the institutional framework to articulate procedures in order to establish guidelines for stakeholders’ participation.

5. Proposition of adaptive strategies

Propose strategies to continuously improve the articulation of river basin, coastal zone and mangrove management.

6. Proposition for territorial delimitation of the National Water Resources Management System (NHRMS)

To establish criteria to be progressively used in the river basins to allow the stakeholders to count on legally binding laws that will prevail over unjustified acts or legal decisions related to water resources management.

environmental issue it must produce it. The pilot projects will encounter a series of difficulties for implementation as there are not sufficient information to put into practice all the 6 (six) activities described above, in the timeline Project IX expects it to be over. Program IX is still under evaluation and in the approval phase. It is expected that the pilot states will employ the integrated management approach for four semesters, and managers will then evaluate the possibility of success over the entire Brazilian interface between the coastal zone and river basins. Polette (2008) believes that the Brazilian system has some negative aspects that will impede the development of an integrated approach unless they are solved. These issues contribute to the most pressing current challenges in the coastal zone and can be divided into categories and specific themes to facilitate analysis (Table 8): Program IX expects to address some of the issues discussed by Polette (2008), but there will still remain major political and institutional issues, such as control of local public policies, temporary technical staff, the agendas of political parties, and the hidden agendas of politicians. These are just a few examples that will not be discussed under Program IX, and they represent a major concern that may be an obstacle to implementing integrated river basin and coastal zone management in Brazil. From a conceptual perspective, if the zoning system is applied (referring to 2008 NWRC draft Protocol), there is no need to consider mangroves as a separate element in Program IX, because when the zones are established, those wetlands will certainly be part of the integrated analysis. It is completely unnecessary to spend 2 years discussing the mangroves as separate units, when the ecosystem approach is the benchmark for the integrated management of river basins and the coastal zone. Mangroves are another issue that has extended Program IX discussions. Another challenge that must be recognized in Program IX is that it has been discussed since 2009, which demonstrates how difficult it is to obtain a final decision establishing guidelines for the pilot programs from government agencies. This experience may provide a cautionary tale about how hard it will be to obtain results from the three states and then approve a general

Integrated Ecosystem Management of River Basins and Coastal Zone Table 8 Issues that could impede integrated management in Brazil (based on Polette 2008) Categories

Specific issues

1. Political

Local public policies are conducted predominantly by oligarchies Temporary technical staff of water and coastal zone agencies are responsible for long term decision making Incoherent or absent technical basis for political parties’ agendas when compared to environmental policies Local politicians impede the implementation of laws due to sector interests The exchange of political favors with individuals or supporters

2. Economic

The coastal zone represents the most valued real state area in the country, with many interested in multiple uses and occupation Lack of vertical and horizontal inter and intra institutional integration in all levels of government Biased consultants reports according to certain interests Civil society is removed from the power relationship between government and the private sector The internal structure of NGOs is weak and without long term perspective Community guided empowerment by opportunists that are willing to obtain personal gains and not collective benefits

3. Institutional

4. Ecological

Lack of understanding of the structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems, as well as their resilience.

5. Management

Lack of physical infrastructure in the institutions Lack of human resources in environmental agencies Lack of restricted surveillance by public government offices Inconsistent licensing procedures Urban Plans lacking updates and public participation Non-integrated public policies for the coastal zone that do not present a long-term view.

framework for the entire country of Brazil. In this scenario the relationship of states and federal government is not an independent one, on the contrary, the states depend (according to the Constitution) of the federal government to create general guidelines, or even to create economic incentives to make integrated river basin and coastal zone management a possible measure. In the country there is a “fiscal war” between federal and states government and whenever there is not fiscal incentives, most states do not approve any measure that the federal government is discussing voluntarily, when it is the case.

5 Conclusions The most import goal of this article was to present the Brazilian scenario for integrated ecosystem management of the River Basins and Coastal Zone. The country has a large and complex legal framework that supports sector-based river basin and coastal zone management, but it is from the river basin regulations that the integrated approach will occur. The institutional framework may be understood as a complex of agencies with interests in certain sectors, which presents difficulties for creating guidelines for integrated management and for establishing a functional horizontal and vertical dialogue among different levels of government. The National Water Resources Policy clearly calls for an integration of coastal zone management, but the efforts thus far have not been very successful in implementing efficient measures.


Brazilian institutional history shows that if there is lack of political interest and low public participation, then policies tend to fail. Here follow some suggestions to spur the adoption of integrated watershed and coastal zone management.

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Create a more technical group/office/agency that would have the power to establish general integrated management concepts for the country, with a more centralized task and fewer horizontal agencies participating. Because the coastal zone is constitutionally understood as a national heritage, the federal government may be able to establish general integrated management guidelines to protect its heritage. Once the guidelines are ready, the states would be able to articulate an integrated approach according to their needs. For this to work, the federal government would have to establish some type of legally binding mechanism for the state governments, such as a monetary issue or some type of financial fund. There is still inadequate technical knowledge for the Brazilian coast regarding the physical, environmental, chemical, social and economic effects of the natural resources and the areas that would be administered under an integrated management approach. Federal and state incentives are required to study these effects and make the findings understandable for the general public. The idea is to empower civil society with information so they will be able to participate in a more direct way in the implementation, with the necessary knowledge. If the above suggestions do not work, it may be necessary to lobby federal politicians to approve a federal law outlining the general guidelines for integrated watershed and coastal zone management to assure sustainable growth in the Brazilian coastal zone.

In summary, there are efforts in Brazil to reach integrated river basin and coastal zone management, but these efforts are not enough to implement it. There must be a more effective way than the one the federal government is currently using to reach its goal of integration. However, unless civil society participates in the process with a broader base of information, it will certainly take a long time before Brazil establishes integrated ecosystem management.

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