Diegues, Antonio Carlos. 2002. "The Myth of Wilderness in the Brazilian Rainforest." (Working Paper)

Abstract

"The creation of protected areas has been one of the principal strategies adopted for the conservation of nature, in particular in the countries of the Third World. The establishment of these areas increased substantially in the 1970s and 1980s, when 2,098 federal protected areas were created around the world, encompassing more than 3,100,000 square kilometers. According to a 1996 report of the World Conservation Centre, today about five percent of the earth's surface is legally protected under 20,000 different categories, not only at federal levels but also at provincial, state, and municipal levels, covering an area the size of Canada and spread throughout 130 countries."