was destined to all restingas of the State of Rio de Janeiro. At
the first Symposium on Brazilian Restingas, Maciel(59) proposed
their protection trough an Environmental Protection Area (APA).
In 1992, the Northern Fluminense Center for Nature Conserva-
tion presented a proposal for the creation of a State Ecological
Station, managed by the Northern Fluminense State University
(66). Subsequently, it was tried to attain the implantation of the
APA of Iquipari by the City Council of São João da Barra (67). At
the end of the twentieth century, there were only two more de-
tailed studies on the northern restinga(68), while the southern
restinga is one of the most studied in Brazil. Both were included
in the Atlantic Rain Forest Biosphere Reserve as an Experimen-
tal Research and Recovery Area(68).
The problems that most affect the ecosystems of the
two restingas of northern Fluminense today are pollution, eutro-
phication, silting, total or partial drainage of lagoons, landfills,
urbanization of banks, openings of the bars and predatory fish-
ing, concerning the coastal lagoons. The native vegetation eco-
systems have been suffering from deforestation, both to supply
energy and to open space for agriculture, livestock and urban-
ization.
To ensure minimal protection of these ecosystems, the
Jurubatiba National Park must be effectuated, a protected area
in the northern restinga should be established, the Atlantic For-
est Biosphere Reserve must be consolidated and possibly in-
clude all remaining lagoons of the northern Fluminense in the
Ramsar List - List of Wetlands of International Importance.
Restingas in the twenty-first century
In the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the
northern restinga of the region experienced a deep transforma-
tion caused by the installation of the Açu Port Industrial Logistic
Complex. Projected to be more than a port, the large enterprise
required a series of Environmental Impact Studies that provided
much information.
In the southern restinga, the knowledge generated was
also extended thanks to the researches motivated by the con-
solidation of the Jurubatiba Restinga National Park, notably
sponsored by the Center of Ecological Research of Macaé from
the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Today, it is perhaps
the most studied restinga in Brazil. Many other university in-
stitutions, such as the Federal Fluminense Institute (IFF), Flu-
minense Federal University (UFF) and the Northern Fluminense
State University (UENF), have been developing studies about
restingas.
It should be considered that the northern restinga now
has two Conservation Units: the Caruara Farm Private Natural
Heritage Reserve, created and maintained by the company Pru-
mo Logística, and Lagoa do Açu State Park (PELAG). The first
Conservation Unit required an exhaustive floristic survey un-
dertaken by Assumpção and Nascimento(69) as well as provided
relevant data for the publication of a essential book about the
northern restinga of the region, entitled "Time and Restinga"(70).
The RPPN Fazenda Caruara is a research project of the Rio de
Janeiro Botanical Garden (JBRJ), the State University of Rio de
Janeiro (UERJ), UFF, UENF and ISECENSA. The recently created
Management Plan for the use, preservation and conservation of
the Unit, will contemplate programs of fishing, extractivism, vis-
itation, environmental education and research.PELAG is an integral protection conservation unit. It en-
sures the preservation of remnants of Atlantic rain forest native
vegetation, such as restinga, mangrove and an important wet-
land area (the Boa Vista basin, in addition to the Açu Lagoon,
13km along the coast); the integration of their ecosystems with
the socio-cultural diversity of the region; the rare, endemic and
endangered species of flora and fauna. PELAG's tourism po-
tential was discussed in a monograph by Margarida de Fátima
Souza Inácio, entitled "Açu Lagoon State Park (RJ): Potential-
ities among interests and conflicts for the implementation of
receptive tourism". There are also academic studies on the la-
goons of the northern restinga.The most recent news is the creation of the Barreto’s
restinga Municipal Natural Park with 32 hectares. According to
its coordinator, the biologist Henrique Abrahão, Barreto’s rest-
inga is a coastal ecosystem characterized by sandy soil, cre-
ated by the sedimentation of rivers and marine deposits over
thousands of years, with strong influence of wind, salt and tidal
changes. The area has typical vegetation, with plants very resis-
tant to variations in temperature and soil aridity (such as cacti,
bromeliads and Brazilian cherry). This vegetation, with the abili-
ty to preserve the dunes, is fundamental to contain the advance
of the sea and preserve the exuberant local fauna.It is also worth mentioning the work of Salvatore Sicilia-
no, on marine mammals in Campos Basin and that of David C.
Tavares on birds.The history of the present time is in vogue today. Al-
though the author sympathizes with it, it is prudent to keep a
relative distance in time to make a balanced and fair evaluation.
That's why my analysis ends in the year 2000. A clear conclu-
sion reached is that in the centuries before the twentieth, the
two restingas had more biomass and biodiversity, although
there was little knowledge about them. Today, the knowledge is
great, but there has been a progressive impoverishment of them
in terms of biomass and biodiversity.Lagoa Amarra-boi no PARNA de Jurubatiba
Amarra-boi lagoon in the National Parque of Jurubatiba