AS FLORESTAS NO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL BRASILEIRO E SUA RELEVÂNCIA PARA OS SERVIÇOS ECOSSISTÊMICOS NA AGRICULTURA
AS FLORESTAS NO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL BRASILEIRO E SUA RELEVÂNCIA PARA OS SERVIÇOS ECOSSISTÊMICOS NA AGRICULTURA
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.8882630045
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Palavras-chave: Áreas de Preservação Permanente; Cadastro Ambiental Rural; Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais; Programa de Regularização Ambiental; Reserva Legal.
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Keywords: Permanent Preservation Areas; Rural Environmental Registry; Payment for Environmental Services; Environmental Regularization Program; Legal Reserve.
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Abstract: This chapter contextualizes how forests and other remnants of native vegetation should not be viewed as “unproductive areas” for agricultural production, but rather as ecological infrastructure that sustains agroecosystems. From this perspective, the Brazilian Forest Code (Law No. 12,651/2012) is presented as the central framework for land-use regulation, as it establishes rules for the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of native vegetation. The discussion is structured around three instruments. Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) are protected areas, with or without native cover, intended to safeguard water resources, geological stability, and biodiversity, with emphasis on the margins of watercourses, springs, slopes, and hilltops. The text relates the maintenance of APPs to improvements in water (less siltation, greater infiltration, and flow regulation) and to the reduction of erosion and soil losses. The Legal Reserve (RL), with minimum percentages varying according to biome and location, is treated as a structuring element of the rural landscape, as it reduces fragmentation and promotes connectivity and functional biodiversity. The possibility of sustainable economic use of the RL (forest management and agroforestry systems) is also highlighted, provided that native cover is maintained and legal criteria are met. The Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) is described as a mandatory georeferenced registry that defines property boundaries and locates APPs, RL, and consolidated areas, making it possible to identify environmental assets and liabilities and to support the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA). It may also underpin incentives (PSA, certifications, and credit), although it depends on validation and institutional capacity. In the section on ecosystem services, forests are presented as support for climate regulation, water security, soil conservation, biological control, and pollination, in addition to cultural services linked to landscape and environmental education. In conclusion, the text highlights challenges and opportunities and concludes that strengthening the Forest Code increases the resilience of agriculture and generates benefits for society.
- Murilo Fuentes Pelloso
- Ana Paula Lemke