Ministry of the Environment bids management of national parks to the private sector in Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states

The national parks of Aparados da Serra and Serra Geral, located on the border between Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul state, were auctioned by the Ministry of the Environment and ceded to the private sector. On Twitter, Minister Ricardo Salles celebrated the R$ 20 million bid given by the Construcap group, winner of the trading session, and the R$260 million that should be invested throughout the 30-year contract. “Absolute success of the new model of federal park concessions!”, he said.

For the Federal Public Prosecution office, though, the bidding is irregular and should be annulled. The prosecutors filed a lawsuit against the environmental agencies Ibama and ICMBio, responsible for overseeing the parks, in the Federal Court of Rio Grande do Sul, demanding a more detailed basic project on the concession, but the request was rejected by the court.