Peal of deforestation is alert to effective implementation of the Forest Code

In a joint celebration of the five years of implementation of the Forest Code, the evaluation of the results achieved so far and the challenges posed on the table for years to come, the Center’s Forest Code, the Environmental Research Institute of Amazonia (IPAM) and Environmentalist Parliamentary front gathered in Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment (MMA), the Brazilian Forest Service, senators, representatives, experts, researchers, and organizations representing the environmental issue in the country.

For the executive director of IPAM, André Guimarães, the Forest Code is a competitive advantage and not a disadvantage. “The Forest Code balances conservation with agricultural development and is indeed an achievement. The law has requirement but also encouragement. ”

You need to do a cold balance of these five years of code, recognize their achievements and see it as a tool that organizes the game deforestation and Brazilian agricultural production in a country with plenty of environmental assets. Regulatory Article 41 and bear in mind that the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) draws the board – but does not solve the problem alone – is critical, said Guimarães.

Avoid setbacks, as further delays deadlines for the CAR, is another focal point at the time, said the coordinator of the Parliamentary Front Environment, Congressman Alessandro Molon. “Especially because most farmers already regularized and we have many successful experiences in the country.”

The National CAR System currently has 410 million registered hectares, divided into 4.1 million of real estate. “This shows that farmers, which is the great protagonist, came to the game. To say that he did not come to deny the fact. The CAR is the gateway and the producer is willing to settle, “said the general director of the Brazilian Forest Service, Raimundo Deusdará Son.

The initial deadline for mandatory registration in the CAR has been expanded by the government to December 31, 2017 by Provisional Measure 724/16. Proposals in Congress, such as the PL 4550/16, in the House, and the PLS 287/15, in the Senate, are used to extend the deadline further. Molon to indefinitely postpone the deadline is out of the question. “We can not reward those who do not comply with this duty.”

The minister of Environment, José Sarney Filho, said a study published this week by IPAM researchers , which shows that the CAR inhibit deforestation up in Pará and Mato Grosso: the problem would not be the CAR, but the amnesty granted by the Forest Code for what was brought down by 2008, which would explain the rebound observed in the last two years in the Amazon . “The amnesty has the impression that in the environmental area is not necessary to comply with any law,” said Sarney Filho.

High deforestation

The minister also said that the CAR is not in itself a reducing deforestation, although it can and should be used as input for monitoring and forest restoration, as well as public policy. “The validation of data for the analysis of states is essential for them to be used. States have to act. ”

Sarney Filho was rebutted by Senator Jorge Viana. “There is a new movement result in knocking the earth and clearing the area because it has a government that gets along well with it, has support in the House and Senate, and that’s a threat,” said Viana. “I think that the terrible MMA wants to outsource this responsibility.”

The event “5 years the Forest Law: Challenges and Opportunities” also featured tables that discussed the regularization, the CAR and environmental compliance program (PRA) to traditional communities, the Incentive Program for Environmental Conservation and the payment market by environmental services.