From the survey on the values received by the municipalities located in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero region in the state of Minas Gerais due to the ICMS Ecológico (a modality of the Brazilian value added tax which's revenues are distributed by states acording to environmental criteria) and to the Financial Compensation for Exploitation of Mineral Resources received from the Federal Government, the objective of this study is to relativize the potential of the ICMS Ecológico to encourage municipalities to establish or to support protected areas (PAs) in their territories. This discussion brings about academic and technical evaluations of the quality of environmental protection held in the PAs situated there and highlights the conflicts of interest between mining and environmental protection in the region. Finally, it concludes that it is necessary to improve the ICMS Ecológico in Minas Gerais and proposes measures to make conservation more economically interesting to municipalities.
Protected areas; ICMS Ecológico; CFEM
