The National Park and the Environmental Protection Area of Albardão: A New Outlook for the Franciscana and other Threatened Species in Brazil

Eduardo R. Secchi, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande-FURG
Renato V. Carvalho and Kleber G. da Silva, Núcleo de Educação e
Monitoramento Ambiental-NEMA’

On 6 March 2026, Decree No. 12,868 officially created Albardão National Park and the Albardão Environmental Protection Area, bringing to fruition two decades of sustained institutional, scientific, and civil society effort in defence of the coastal and marine biodiversity of southernmost Brazil.  This represents an important step toward protecting Vulnerable franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) in Brazil.

Group of franciscanas, including a pregnant female (left), a juvenile (middle) and another adult (Photo by Daniel Danilewicz).

The decree, signed by the President of Brazil, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, created Brazil’s largest marine National Park, covering 1,004,480 hectares of marine waters.  Only indirect (‘non-consumptive’) use of natural resources, such as scientific research, education, and nature-oriented tourism, is permitted in the new MPAs. The Environmental Protection Area covers 55,000 hectares, of which 27,564 ha (49%) are coastal terrestrial areas, and 28,419 ha (51%) are marine waters. A buffer zone of 614,008 ha is located adjacent to the National Park and Environmental Protected Area (see map below).  From here on we refer to these combined areas as ‘the MPA’.

National Park and Environmental Protection Area of Albardão, including its buffer zone (courtesy by Rafael Magris/ICMBio).

The creation of MPA was the result of nearly two decades of collaboration between scientists, conservation organisations, and government agencies. Since the region’s formal recognition as a biodiversity priority in 2003–2004, the process brought together over 150 representatives from academic, governmental, and non-governmental institutions across Brazil and Uruguay, and was highlighted in ten National Action Plans covering threatened species including cetaceans, sea turtles, sharks, rays, migratory birds and one dedicated entirely to the franciscana. The designation process was explicitly integrated into Brazil’s commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework, ensuring alignment between national conservation policy and the 2030 international biodiversity targets. The final proposal, developed through successive rounds of technical review and public consultation, was delivered to the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio), the federal government agency responsible for protecting, managing, and administering federal protected areas, in 2025 and culminated in the official creation of the protected areas on 6 March 2026.

Franciscanas killed in gillnet fisheries operating off Rio Grande do Sul State, southern Brazil (courtesy of NEMA and Ecomega/FURG).

The Albardão region has been identified as an important reproductive ground for several species of sharks and rays (Vooren & Klippel 2005), as well as an area of elevated bycatch risk for franciscanas and threatened elasmobranchs (Prado et al. 2021; Secchi et al. 2021; Saüt et al. 2024). Given the evidence that existing regulations on gillnet fishing (e.g. Secchi et al. 2022; Claudino et al. 2026) have not been effective (see photo above of multiple bycaught franciscanas), the new MPAs are the most promising ways to conserve franciscanas, sharks, rays, and sea turtles by reducing the unsustainable levels of bycatch, particularly in bottom-set gillnets. The MPA’s location in the south of Brazil on the border with Uruguay, where maritime activities including fisheries are limited, will increase the likelihood that the area can serve as a sanctuary for vulnerable species and support the recovery of depleted fish stocks. Furthermore, the MPA will create ideal conditions for a ‘natural laboratory’ dedicated to collaborative, multidisciplinary, long-term study of the marine and coastal ecosystems of the subtropical western South Atlantic.

References

Claudino R, Secchi ER, Turner J., Cardoso LG (2026). Lack of compliance in gillnet fisheries regulations increases risk to a vulnerable species. Fisheries Management and Ecology. 0:1-16.

Prado JHF, Kinas PG, Pennino MG, Seyboth E, Silveira FRG, Ferreira EC, Secchi ER (2021) Definition of no‐fishing zones and fishing effort limits to reduce franciscana bycatch to sustainable levels in southern Brazil. Animal Conservation 24:770–782

Saüt MM, da Silveira Monteiro D, Prado JH, Pennino MG, Secchi ER (2024) Identifying priority areas using a multispecies approach for the conservation of marine megafauna species vulnerable to bycatch in commercial gillnet fisheries. Biodiversity and Conservation 33:281–303

Secchi ER, Cremer MJ, Danilewicz D, Lailson-Brito J (2021) A synthesis of the ecology, human-related threats and conservation perspectives for the endangered franciscana dolphin. Frontiers in Marine Sciences 8:617956

Secchi ER, Monteiro D, Claudino R (2022) Is the franciscana bycatch in gillnet fisheries sustainable? In: Simões-Lopes PC, Cremer MJ (eds) The franciscana dolphin. Academic Press, Cambridge, pp 201 234.

Vooren CM & Klippel S (2005). Ações para a conservação de tubarões e raias no sul do Brasil. Igaré, Porto Alegre.