Management effectiveness of protected areas of sustainable use in the state of Tocantins

The present study aimed at performing an analysis of management effectiveness in EPAs in the state of Tocantins based on 17 criteria grouped into six large scopes: Political-Legal, Resources, Planning, Management, Knowledge, and Pressure. Each criterion received a value ranging from zero to four, according to the performance of the protected area. The performance of the area in each criterion was defined with the Support of technicians from the department responsible for managing protected areas in Tocantins, along with the analysis of documents and geoprocessing tools. Results obtained showed that the management effectiveness of EPAs in Tocantins varied between 26 and 60%, and that the average management effectiveness was 40.69%. The three EPAs that presented the best results are located around strictly protected areas. In general, management effectiveness in state EPAs was low, which is the result mainly of the lack of human and financial resources and planning mechanisms for the ordaining of the activities developed in these areas.