These natural parks are in the states of Bahia, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Sul and Tocantins. In the coming weeks, more partnerships should be signed with other states. Under the contracts, BNDES will offer support, evaluation, structuring and implementation of projects aimed at the concession of parks.  

 

The program of concessions of conservation units will attract investments to improve the quality of services provided in each park, with the consequent improvement of visitor experience. “The contracts foresee improvements ranging from basic investments in infrastructure, such as restrooms, signage along the trails and materials in visitor centers, to the development of new attractions and recreation equipment according to the vocation of each park and focusing on ecotourism and environmental conservation,” explains Pedro Bruno Barros de Souza, superintendent of Government and Institutional Relationship at BNDES.

 

From the perspective of the states that will promote the concessions, in addition to the preservation of the units – a premise of the BNDES’s program –, the partnerships will attract investments through the private operator – thus providing relief to public funds – in addition to stimulating sustainable tourism and developing local economies around the areas of influence of each park, Souza explains. 

 

The Jalapão and Cantão State Park will be the focus of BNDES’s feasibility studies to find an alternative that pairs good environmental practices with income generation in the state of Tocantins, for example. These parks protect deltas and the cerrado vegetation that make up the region, also having waterfalls, mountains and natural springs (fervedouros). The state of Mato Grosso do Sul is expected to grant five parks.

    

“The partnership between the government of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and BNDES creates a new perspective of public use and, consequently, a new opportunity for sustainable business,” explains Ricardo Senna, Deputy Secretary of Environment, Economic Development, Production and Family Agriculture of the state. “This initiative repositions Mato Grosso do Sul, and Brazil, in an innovative trajectory of sustainable development and creates a new and conciliatory narrative for environmental conservation policies allied to economic development,” he added.

 

“This model allows us to focus our efforts on what we do so well, which is the management of the conservation of our units, transferring the visitation to an entity that will act on these administrative activities much better than the state can. So, everyone wins, the state of Minas Gerais, environmental conservation, tourism, the economy, but the ones who win the most are the state’s residents,” said Antônio Malard, general director of the State Institute of Forests (IEF), an agency of the State Environment System (Sisema) of Minas Gerais.

 

Instituto Semeia, a partner in the process, will finance together with other private partners a sector study to be developed with BNDES. Both will also promote dialogue with potential investors, such as current park operators, in addition to training public agents for the future management of concession contracts. Despite having existed for decades in Brazil, the number of park concessions remains low when considering the extensive universe of conservation units in all of the country’s regions.

 

Although with undeniable natural attractions, Brazil is only the 32nd country in the Travel & Tourism Competitiviness Index 2019 ranking, despite being 2nd in the highlight in natural resources, behind only Mexico. According to a 2019 survey by Instituto Semeia, 55% of the Brazilian parks lack the structure to support visitation or that meets the basic needs of visitors.

 

BNDES’s Program for parks will bring investments in the professionalization of agents, expansion of leisure options and action on potential local tourism, which are fundamental for attracting visitors and investors. By providing support to states interested in conducting the concession process of their natural parks, BNDES seeks to implement all these advances, achieving immediate consequences in improving people’s lives and local economic growth. BNDES also expects that, with the success of the auctions, further private investments will be attracted, focusing on ecotourism and environmental education.

 

BNDES’s support involves natural parks, which are conservation units under full protection, as regulated by Law Nº. 9.985/2000.  Their resources can only be used indirectly, that is, in activities such as scientific research and ecological tourism. Brazil has approximately 450 conservation units characterized as parks, many with land regularization problems, precarious infrastructure for visitation, and lack of resources for the conservation of protected areas. In Brazil, these units receive 15 million visitors per year, whereas in the the USA this number exceeds 300 million.

 

About BNDES – Founded in 1952 and currently linked to the Ministry of Economy, BNDES is the main instrument of the Federal Government to promote long-term investments in the Brazilian economy. BNDES’s actions focus on the socioenvironmental and economic impact in Brazil. BNDES offers special conditions for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as social investment lines, directed at education and health, family agriculture, sanitation and urban transport. In crisis situations, BNDES acts in an anticyclical manner and assists in the formulation of solutions for the resumption of economic growth.