Unfolding additional massive cutback effects of the Native Vegetation Protection Law on Legal Reserves, Brazil

Abstract

The Native Vegetation Protection Law - 2012 - (NVPL) is the main Brazilian regulation for protecting native vegetation (NV) on private land. The NVPL, currently in the implementation phase, reduced Legal Reserves (LR) requirements compared to its previous version, the 1965's Forest Act (FA), through several legal mechanisms. Among them, Article 68 (Art.68) exempts landholders from LR obligations if NV was converted without offending the legislation in place at the time of the conversion. The technical implementation of Art. 68 is controversial and its effects are still unknown. We developed a model to estimate the effects of Art.68 on LR using São Paulo State (Brazil) as case study. We analyzed former environmental laws to identify key periods in which NV preservation requirements had changed. After, we searched for past spatial data on NV cover with sufficient accuracy for each legal benchmark. Combining legal benchmarks with spatial data, we created two scenarios for Art.68 effects, plus a baseline scenario. The first scenario considered a single legal benchmark, the 1965's FA (scenario "1965"), while the other included the 1989 Cerrado's protection Federal Law as a second benchmark (scenario "1965/89"). The baseline scenario did not include Art.68 effects. Scenario "1965" reduced LR deficits in 49% compared to the baseline scenario, waiving landholders from restoration or offsetting needs in 423 thousand hectares (kha) of NV. Scenario "1965/89" waved 507 kha of NV from restoration needs and represented a 59% reduction in LR deficit compared to the baseline scenario. The LR reduction by scenario "1965/89" assumed particular importance considering that the additional cutback was concentrated on Cerrado, an already very fragmented and impacted region. Together with reductions from other NVPL rules, the additional effects of Art. 68 unfolded great concerns about the role of LR as a tool for NV preservation on private land, threating governmental restoration commitments, and pointing that conservation command and control approaches should be complemented with incentive policies to achieve the desired and committed standards.

The vascular flora of Porto Ferreira State Park: an ecotonal area in São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil

“…Thus, we compiled the checklist of the vascular flora of the PFSP, based on fieldwork, studies conducted in the area, and herbarium collections, aiming to extend and systematize the scattered floristic information on the region. This data can support restoration and conservation projects in the central region of the State of São Paulo, given that several private lands of the region present a deficit in native vegetation and must be restored in accordance with the Native Vegetation Protection Law (Tavares et al, 2019).…”

Land use change: the barrier for sugarcane sustainability

“…The Environmental Regularization Program (PRA), also included in the new Forest Code, contemplates a set of actions to be developed by rural landowners and squatters to promote their properties’ environmental regularization. However, such actions under the new regularization policy have reduced the protection of native vegetation to promote easier compliance when compared with the previous policy dating from 1965 38 . The PRAs fall within the scope of each state's constitution, and the registration of the rural property in the CAR is mandatory to adhere to this program.…”

“…However, such actions under the new regularization policy have reduced the protection of native vegetation to promote easier compliance when compared with the previous policy dating from 1965. 38 The PRAs fall within the scope of each state's constitution, and the registration of the rural property in the CAR is mandatory to adhere to this program. The properties that fall under the terms of articles 59 and 60 of the new Forest Code can join the PRA.…”

Regularidade Ambiental Das Áreas De Reserva Legal Do Cerrado Brasileiro

“…Uma vez que apenas 8,21% do território do Cerrado é legalmente protegido por unidades de conservação (MMA, 2019), e a predominância do domínio das terras do Cerrado é privada (COSTA-COUTINHO et al, 2019), as áreas de Reserva Legal assumem um papel de destaque para conservação da vegetação nativa (TAVARES et al, 2019). Tendo em vista o conceito de Reserva Legal trazido pela Lei nº 12.651/2012, associado às funções de assegurar o uso econômico de modo sustentável dos recursos naturais do imóvel rural, de auxiliar a conservação e a reabilitação dos processos ecológicos e de promover a conservação da biodiversidade, bem como o abrigo e a proteção de fauna silvestre e da flora nativas (BRASIL, 2012), essas áreas representam uma oportunidade de aprimorar a gestão do patrimônio ambiental do Cerrado.…”

“…12 da Lei nº 12.651/2012. No entanto,Tavares et al (2019) alertam que a forma de implementação do Art. 68 daquela Lei é controversa e seus efeitos ainda não são conhecidos.Na prática, o déficit total de RL da área de estudo poderá variar quando da análise dos casos concretos pelos órgãos competentes pela aprovação da localização da RL nos estados e no Distrito Federal, tendo os resultados do presente trabalho apresentado o cenário para a aplicação dos percentuais mínimos a serem mantidos a título de RL previstos no Art.…”