Protected Areas of the Pampa biome presented land use incompatible with conservation purposes

ABSTRACT Currently, only 40% of Brazil’s Pampa still is covered by original vegetation; however, there is a clear underrepresentation of regional biodiversity in protected areas (PA). Herein, we assessed the extent to which 13 PAs for the Integral Protection in the Brazilian Pampa are effective in conserving samples of the natural attributes and biodiversity of the Pampa. Of all 13 PAs analysed, 11 showed human land uses (range: 0.8–39%) in the legally defined area. Only six PAs had natural land cover above 90%, and abandoned agricultural fields were present in most of the PAs. All buffer zones surrounding PAs for Integral Protection had human land uses. Half of the buffer zones had human-related uses in more than 40% of area. Agricultural mosaics were the most common land uses in the buffer zones. Our study shows that most Pampa PAs are not immune to anthropogenic pressures both inside and around them.