1.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
–
The International Union for Conservation of Nature is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. It is involved in gathering and analysis, research, field projects, advocacy, lobbying. IUCNs mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve nature and to ensure that any use of resources is equitable. Over the past decades, IUCN has widened its focus beyond conservation ecology and now incorporates issues related to equality, poverty alleviation. Unlike other international NGOs, IUCN does not itself aim to mobilize the public in support of nature conservation and it tries to influence the actions of governments, business and other stakeholders by providing information and advice, and through lobbying and partnerships. The organization is best known to the public for compiling and publishing the IUCN Red List. IUCN has a membership of over 1200 governmental and non-governmental organizations, some 11,000 scientists and experts participate in the work of IUCN commissions on a voluntary basis. It employs approximately 1000 full-time staff in more than 60 countries and its headquarters are in Gland, Switzerland. IUCN has observer and consultative status at the United Nations, and plays a role in the implementation of several conventions on nature conservation. It was involved in establishing the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the past, IUCN has been criticized for placing the interests of nature over those of indigenous peoples. In recent years, its relations with the business sector have caused controversy. It was previously called the International Union for Protection of Nature, establishment In 1947, the Swiss League for the Protection of Nature organised an international conference on the protection of nature in Brunnen. It is considered to be the first government-organized non-governmental organization, the initiative to set up the new organisation came from UNESCO and especially from its first Director General, the British biologist Julian Huxley. At the time of its founding IUPN was the international organisation focusing on the entire spectrum of nature conservation Early years. Its secretariat was located in Brussels and its first work program focused on saving species and habitats, increasing and applying knowledge, advancing education, promoting international agreements and promoting conservation. Providing a solid base for conservation action was the heart of all activities. IUPN and UNESCO were closely associated and they jointly organized the 1949 Conference on Protection of Nature. In preparation for this conference a list of endangered species was drawn up for the first time
2.
National park
–
A national park is a park in use for conservation purposes. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns, although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, there is a common idea, the conservation of wild nature for posterity and as a symbol of national pride. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, although Yellowstone was not officially termed a national park in its establishing law, it was always termed such in practice and is widely held to be the first and oldest national park in the world. The first area to use national park in its legislation was the USs Mackinac Island. Australias Royal National Park, established in 1879, was the third official national park. In 1895 ownership of Mackinac Island was transferred to the State of Michigan as a state park, as a result, Australias Royal National Park is by some considerations the second oldest national park now in existence. The largest national park in the meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park. According to the IUCN,6,555 national parks worldwide met its criteria in 2006, IUCN is still discussing the parameters of defining a national park. National parks are almost always open to visitors, in 1971, these criteria were further expanded upon leading to more clear and defined benchmarks to evaluate a national park. In 1810, the English poet William Wordsworth described the Lake District as a sort of property, in which every man has a right and interest who has an eye to perceive. It was known as Hot Springs Reservation, but no authority was established. Federal control of the area was not clearly established until 1877, John Muir is today referred to as the Father of the National Parks due to his work in Yosemite. He published two articles in The Century Magazine, which formed the base for the subsequent legislation. President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress on July 1,1864, ceding the Yosemite Valley, according to this bill, private ownership of the land in this area was no longer possible. The state of California was designated to manage the park for use, resort. Leases were permitted for up to ten years and the proceeds were to be used for conservation, a public discussion followed this first legislation of its kind and there was a heated debate over whether the government had the right to create parks. The perceived mismanagement of Yosemite by the Californian state was the reason why Yellowstone at its establishment six years later was put under national control, in 1872, Yellowstone National Park was established as the United States first national park, being also the worlds first national park. In some European countries, however, national protection and nature reserves already existed, such as Drachenfels, Yellowstone was part of a federally governed territory
3.
National park (Brazil)
–
National Parks are a legally-defined type of protected area of Brazil. The first parks were created in the 1930s, and other parks were gradually added, at least two early parks were later submerged by hydroelectric reservoirs. The first park in the Amazon rainforest was inaugurated in 1974, today the national parks cover a huge area, particularly in the Amazon. National parks are the oldest type of protected area in Brazil, at the federal level the parks are managed by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. State parks fall under the regulations as national parks. Both types are now defined by law 9.985 of July 2000 and they are classed as IUCN protected area category II. The parks are owned, and any privately owned land within their boundary must be expropriated. Existing landowners and communities with land use rights have to be relocated, with strictly limited budgets, poor land records and inefficient bureaucracy it can take many years to complete this process. Conditions for public visits are defined in the management plan. Officially a park may not be visited by the public unless it has a management plan, scientific research requires prior authorization from the responsible agency and is subject to conditions and restrictions. The concept of park was first defined in the 1934 forest code. The system of national parks started in 1937 with the creation of Itatiaia National Park, another two national parks were created in 1939, then after a period of 20 years, the program of park creation was restarted in the late 1950s. The Ubajara National Park was created in 1959, protecting a limestone cave in the caatinga biome of the north east. The Paulo Afonso and Sete Quedas national parks were created in 1948 and 1961 respectively to let visitors see exceptional waterfalls, although all countries define national parks as permanent, Brazil violated this principal and submerged the features under the dams of hydroelectric power plants. The forest code was revised in 1965 to cover all types of native vegetation, under the 1934 and 1965 codes the parks and other conservation units have been created by executive decree. As a result, Congress has tended not to give support to the parks. Many of the parks have their origins in federal or state forestry reserves used for a variety of research or conservation purposes, the effect of this random development was that by the late 1970s many of the parks were near coastal population centres. The Amazônia National Park was created in 1974 on the Tapajós River and it was designed to be accessible via the trans-Amazonian highway, which ran through the park
4.
Rio de Janeiro (state)
–
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 27 states of Brazil. It has the second largest economy of Brazil, with the largest being that of the state of São Paulo, the state of Rio de Janeiro is located within the Brazilian geopolitical region classified as the Southeast. Rio de Janeiro shares borders with all the states in the same Southeast macroregion, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo. It is bounded on the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean, Rio de Janeiro has an area of 43,653 km². The archaic demonym meaning for the Rio de Janeiro State is fluminense, taken from the Latin word flumen, from 1783 and during all the Imperial Regime, carioca remained only as a nickname by which other Brazilians called the inhabitants of Rio. During the first years of the Brazilian Republic, carioca was the given to those who lived in the slums or a pejorative way to refer the bureaucratic elite of the Federal District. Only when the City of Rio lost its status as Federal District and became a Brazilian State when the capital was moved to Brasilia, carioca was made a co-official demonym with guanabarino. In 1975, the Guanabara State was extinct by President Geisel becoming the present City of Rio de Janeiro, nowadays, social movements like Somos Todos Cariocas try to achieve the official recognition of carioca as a co-official demonym of Rio de Janeiro State. Rio de Janeiro is the smallest state in the Southeast macroregion, in the Brazilian flag, the state is represented by the Beta star in the Southern Cross. European presence in Rio de Janeiro is as old as Brazil itself, Rio de Janeiro originated from parts of the captainships of de Tomé and São Vicente. Between 1555 and 1567, the territory was occupied by the French, aiming to prevent the occupation of the Frenchmen, in March 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was established by Estácio de Sá. In 1763, Rio de Janeiro became the capital of Colonial Brazil, with the flight of the Portuguese royal family from Portugal to Brazil in 1808, the region soon benefited from urban reforms to house the Portuguese. The following years witnessed the creation of the Jardim Botânico and the Academia Real Militar, during this same time, the Escola Real de Ciências, Artes e Ofícios was founded as well. In 1834, the city of Rio de Janeiro was transformed into a city, remaining as capital of the state, while the captainships became provinces, with headquarters in Niterói. In 1889, the city became the capital of the Republic, the city became the federal district. In 1894, Petrópolis became the capital of Rio de Janeiro, with the relocation of the federal capital to Brasília in 1960, the city of Rio de Janeiro became Guanabara State. Niterói remained the capital for Rio de Janeiro state, while Rio de Janeiro served the same status for Guanabara. In 1975, the states of Guanabara and Rio de Janeiro were merged under the name of Rio de Janeiro, the symbols of the former State of Rio de Janeiro were preserved, while the symbols of Guanabara were kept by the city of Rio de Janeiro
5.
Brazil
–
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
Media related to Serra dos Órgãos National Park at Wikimedia Commons
