Fire incidence in Brazil increased in 2019−2020, with unprecedented magnitude in the Pantanal.

Fire effects vary according to the evolutionary history of the affected ecosystem.

A drier climate and land use changes increase the risk of wildfires throughout Brazil.

Poor governance further exacerbates the risk and damage of wildfires.

Fire policies must be improved by collaboration among different sectors of the society.

The collapse of the Fundão dam was the major environmental disaster of the world mining industry.

We identify with high resolution satellite images the ecosystems and cultural heritage damage.

Contrary to post-disaster expectations, there was a setback in environmental legal planning.

Hunting is banned in Brazil.

Illegal hunting in Brazil is widespread and cultural embedded.

Data about wildlife, habitat distribution and motivations for hunting are lacking.

Main factors driving non-compliance are analyzed and discussed.

Policy options to deal with hunting in the future are proposed.

Legal Reserves represent almost one third of all remaining native vegetation in Brazil.

There is no solid argument, evidence or theory that support that Legal Reserve extinction will favor Brazil development.

The extinction of Legal Reserves will lead to a huge increase in native vegetation loss, with blatant negative consequences on biodiversity and ecosystem services provision.

Legal Reserves are a key-component for effective and less expensive nature-based solutions.

Legal Reserves should be considered as assets for the development of Brazil rather than liabilities.

South Brazilian and North American tallgrass grasslands show botanical similarity.

Fire appears to have a similar ecological role in both regions.

Fire as ecological process and conservation tool is undervalued in Brazil.

Brazilian grassland conservation might benefit from North American experiences.

Comparative ecological studies will improve our understanding of grassland ecology.

Brazil's regulations governing deforestation and logging are often circumvented.

Agreements with soy and beef companies are important but need strengthening.

Effectiveness of commodity agreements is diminished by laundering and leakage.

Timber harvest and transportation permits are open to widespread fraud.

Ways exist to reduce circumvention of commodity agreements and regulations.

Pilocarpus microphyllus is the main source of the medicament for glaucoma treatment.

Absence of sustainable management increases the risk of extinction of the species.

We review our understanding of P. microphyllus and propose conservation strategies.

New potential areas of natural occurrence of P. microphyllus are proposed.

Well synchronized vegetative and reproductive patterns in field growing plants.

Chronology of extractive industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives in indigenous peoples’ territories.

Focus on corporate responsibility to respect indigenous peoples’ right to give or withhold consent.

Case studies involving ICMM member companies and the application of FPIC standard.

Implementation of FPIC standard fundamental in altering predominant devastating model of mining.

Indigenous peoples’ right to FPIC is the desired standard to protect indigenous rights.

Six mammal pet species were assessed, all resulting in very high risk of invasion.

Rodents resulted the highest risk level among our analyses.

Reproductive traits account for the major part of the high risk of evaluated species.

Food group and ecological interactions were the main traits increasing risk scores of carnivores.

Most native species produced stems of reasonable quality in restoration plantations.

Tree growth limited the potential for timber production in ecological restoration.

Silviculture operations and improvement are crucial for producing native timber.

Logging based on growth optimized the timber production vs time relation.

Species-specific growth models can maximize timber production and guide harvesting.

Conserving ∼80% of the Brazilian Amazon is still feasible

Conservation areas are essential for a new regional development model

The cost of establishing.1.3 million km2 of new conservation areas is USD 1.0–1.6 billion

The annual cost of 3.5 million km2 of conservation areas is USD 1.7–2.8 billion

A new ambitious, decentralized, and agile fund mechanism is required

Rewilding is more than species (re-)introductions.

Rewilding also produces ecological restoration and social impacts.

South American projects can develop contextually appropriate rewilding approaches.

There are many opportunities to study and implement rewilding in South America.

High-resolution remote sensing data reveals 28%, or 32 million hectares (Mha), of native vegetation cover in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

There are 7.2Mha of degraded riparian areas, of which 5.2Mha at least must be restored before 2038 by landowners for legislation compliance.

Restoring this existing legal debt could increase native vegetation cover in the biome up to 35%.

Robust information on biodiversity patterns and trends is important for public policies for nature conservation and sustainable development.

Current Brazilian policy of cuts in science puts research programs and long term monitoring of biodiversity at risk.

Reduced spending will have long-term negative impacts on capacity building in science and technology.

Cuts will reduce Brazil's capability to predict, mitigate negative impacts of, and adapt to global environmental changes.

Cuts will result in less effective and efficient conservation strategies, threatening ecosystem services and human well-being, and in failure to reach the National Targets for Biodiversity 2011–2020.

Cats & rodents are widely introduced and damaging mammals on islands around the world.

Eradication is possible on uninhabited small to medium but not inhabited large islands.

Management on inhabited islands focuses on agriculture, livelihoods and animal welfare.

Reticence to management leads to conservation inaction & ultimately biodiversity loss.

Fernando de Noronha shows the conflict in cat and rodent management on inhabited islands.

Airport-produced noise is unsuitable for areas of wildlife protection.

Noise can generate stress and jeopardize wildlife reproduction.

There is a need in Brazil to implement noise regulation within areas of wildlife protection.

The restoration of usually degraded roadsides is proposed.

Thousands of hectares are readily available for restoration in Brazil.

This corresponds to US$ 26.5 billion in the carbon market.

The restoration of these wasted public lands can stimulate ecological restoration.

Leaf phenology monitoring using digital cameras in tropical vegetation.

Digital images can track temporal changes in the vegetation structure.

Phenocams are potential tools for conservation biology.

Phenocams for tropical phenology monitoring are a promising research field in Brazil.

The concept of ecosystems as infrastructure is reviewed.

The terms green, ecological, natural, and blue have been used in the literature.

Green infrastructure is the most commonly used name.

A more inclusive concept for green infrastructure is proposed.

Design principles for green infrastructure at all spatial scales are suggested.

Grassy ecosystems in South America have developed under grazing by large herbivores until the Early Holocene.

The grassy biomes need grazing animals and/or fire to maintain their biodiversity and ecological characteristics.

Grazing in the Legal Reserve can represent a social process with benefits for land users and biodiversity conservation.

Knowledge on grazing in Brazil’s grassy ecosystems should be developed by researchers and stakeholders.