Brazilian Trails Network and Connectivity, Putting a Recreation Infrastructure to Work for Conservation Gains

ABSTRACT In 2020, the Brazilian National Protected Areas System (SNUC) completed two decades. It includes 12 categories of protected areas as well as ecological corridors. Although its implementation has brought conservation gains to Brazil, the SNUC has been managed more as a group of protected areas than in the systemic way it was conceived. Among other gaps needed to be filled, there is an increasing fragmentation of habitats and the difficulty of establishing landscape connectors between protected areas. In this context, the Brazilian Trails Network and Connectivity (REDE) is being implemented in coordination with the CONECTA Brazil program, based on three pillars: conservation, job and income generation and recreation. REDE is a conservation tool with the long-term objective of connecting all the protected areas in Brazil through trails contained in natural corridors. This paper will discuss the governance and the protection status of REDÉs Trails in order to achieve its set objectives.