Karina Custódio*
Brazil has 21 million hectares of vegetation that should be recovered, but remain under threat due to a lack of environmental regularization. The issue was raised by IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) at Rio Climate Week, which is taking place at the Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro.
The event “Dialogues on climate and the Forest Code: environmental regularization and forest protection” was moderated by Jarlene Gomes, a researcher at IPAM, and Marcelo Elvira, executive secretary of the OCF (Forest Code Observatory), and highlighted the importance of implementing environmental regularization in the states in order to meet Brazil’s climate mitigation targets.
Environmental regularization is a process created by the Law for the Protection of Native Vegetation (Forest Code), which establishes rules for the protection of vegetation, especially in areas of private use, such as rural properties and settlements. The legislation establishes that a percentage of the area must be set aside for mandatory protection, the Legal Reserve (RL), as well as important areas for hydrological, geological and biodiversity resources, the Permanent Preservation Areas (APP). The environmental regularization process is a plan that guarantees that the legal reserve and APP areas are conserved on rural properties and settlements, and can be extended by up to 20 years.
“We have a surplus of around 70 million hectares in rural properties and settlements, according to the Forest Code Thermometer. This concentration of surplus reserves in relation to the legislation highlights the urgent need for public policies that encourage the conservation of environmental assets, such as Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) and carbon credits, reinforcing the economic and environmental value of these strategic areas,” said Jarlene Gomes during the panel.
According to the researcher, the event was an opportunity to exchange experiences in the application of environmental regularization in the states. Representatives from eleven states were present, as well as the federal government, through the MGI (Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services) and the SFB (Brazilian Forestry Service). Opportunities and strategies were shared that can be scaled up to boost environmental regularization, such as the restoration of degraded areas and the maintenance of legal reserves and APPs.
Forest Code and climate targets
Brazil’s NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) established a 59% to 67% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. Of this total, 47% of Brazil’s emissions come from deforestation, according to data from the SEEG (System for Estimating Emissions and Removals of Greenhouse Gases).
In 2023, more than 93% of the deforested area in Brazil had at least one sign of illegality. In legal reserves alone, 1.2 million hectares of native vegetation have been lost in the last five years, according to data from MapBiomas Alerta, a network of which IPAM is a member. The data points to the importance of respecting the Forest Code in order to achieve the country’s climate goals.
Environmental Regularization Programs
Each state must build a PRA (Environmental Regularization Plan) which rural property owners must adopt to ensure compliance with the Forest Code. Currently, 13 states already have a PRA in place, 10 are in the process of regulating it and four do not yet have a plan.
Status of Environmental Regularization Plans in the states:
Implemented: Acre, Alagoas, Bahia, Distrito Federal, Espírito Santo, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, Pará and Maranhão.
In the process of being regulated: Santa Catarina, Paraná, Goiás, Amazonas, Roraima, Amapá, Tocantins, Piauí, Ceará and Pernambuco.
No plan: Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba and Sergipe.
IPAM communications analyst*
