**3. When heritage is just rhetoric**

The eloquence with which a cultural or natural asset is patrimonialized, sometimes points only to its political-partisan use, with the omission of its ideal objective: the protection of the patrimony and/or the emancipation of the groups that hold the good. Let us observe.

They are registered as a World Heritage Site, by UNESCO (of the acronym in English, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), the Complex of Protected Areas of the Pantanal (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul); the Cerrado Reserves – Veadeiros Plateau and Emus National Parks (Goiás); and the Central Amazon Conservation Complex (Amazonas).

Regarding the first, the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN), points out that "inscribed by Unesco in the List of World Natural Heritage and Biosphere Reserve in 2000, the Pantanal Complex of Protected Areas, which comprises the Pantanal National Park (Mato Grosso), the Private Natural Protection Reserves of Acurizal, Penha and Dorochet, is the largest continuous flooded freshwater system in the world and one of the richest ecosystems in wildlife. Typically regional, constitutes one of the most exuberant and diversified nature reserves on the planet".

#### *Cultural Heritage and the Crisis of Democracy DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97575*

As for the second, "the Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emus national parks were declared World Natural Heritage by Unesco in 2001. Both regions are protected areas of the Brazilian Cerrado Reserves, one of the oldest and most diverse tropical ecosystems in the world. For millennia, these places have served as a refuge for several species during periods of climate change and will be vital for maintaining the biodiversity of the Cerrado Reserves region during future climatic fluctuations".

Finally, the Amazon is an area inscribed on the World Heritage List by Unesco, which "has more than six million hectares and is one of the richest regions on the planet in terms of biodiversity, with important examples of lowland ecosystems, igapó forests, lakes and channels – which form an aquatic mosaic in constant change, where the largest variety of electric fish in the world lives. The Central Amazon Conservation Complex is formed by the Jaú National Park (registered in 2000), the Mamirauá and Amanã Sustainable Development Reserves, and the Anavilhanas National Park (registered in 2003), all in the State of Amazonas".

However, I wonder: why are they being destroyed? Who could protect them? What is the use of recognition as not only Brazilian heritage, but also of Humanity?

One answer to one of the questions would be the federal government. However, this is one of the accomplices, authors and artisans of the criminal destruction of our rich biomes. The statement by the Minister of the Environment that said, in a ministerial meeting, that the federal government should take advantage of the media focus on COVID-19 to "pass the cattle" became notorious. This means relaxation of environmental laws, deregulation, or, in direct Portuguese, making them loose and inefficient.

The minister had already been acting in this direction. Normative Instruction 13/2020, published even before the sacrilegious meeting of April 22, allows the spraying of agricultural fungicides and mineral oil in the banana crop, with a reduction in the distance between the population areas and those to be sprayed by pesticides. Thus, rural, quilombola, indigenous communities become more susceptible to being affected. Another example is the attempt to regulate illegally occupied lands, through Provisional Measure 910, the "MP da Grilagem" (land grabbing).

Land grabbing, land invasion, agribusiness are direct causes of persecution of family farming, expulsion and genocide by indigenous people, violence against quilombolas and, clearly, the destruction of the biomes mentioned above.

According to INPE (National Institute for Space Research, in the acronym in Portuguese), the Pantanal faces the largest series of fires in the last 20 years. To date, 15% of the entire length of the biome in Brazil has been destroyed. Species threatened with extinction, such as jaguars, pigeons, macaws, among others, suffer even more from these environmental crimes.

The same is true of the Brazilian Amazon Forest and Cerrado. According to Greenpeace, of the hotspots registered in July of that year, "539 were within Indigenous Lands, an increase of 76.72% over last year, when 305 hotspots were mapped. In addition, 1,018 reached Conservation Units, an increase of 49.92% over the same period last year". For Brasil Escola, "extensive livestock and mechanized agriculture of soy, corn and cotton are the main causes of the destruction of much of this type of plant formation". It should be remembered that the Cerrado is responsible for supplying several water networks throughout Brazil, and the Amazon is a source of moisture to feed rain in other parts of the country.

So, I think that patrimonialization actions are not simple panaceas. They must be means of promoting these biomes, instrumentalizing public protection policies, and applying effective and effective penalties. Unfortunately, today in Brazil, this is not what we see. There are only crickets and grasshoppers. Hope is no longer seen.
