An excellent opportunity to promote large-scale restoration in Brazil has reached the attention of the Federal Senate’s Economic Affairs Commission (CAE, in Portuguese acronym). The Bill 5.634/2019 aims to simplify native vegetation restoration activities. The draft bill explains that no authorization from any agency is required when planting native species for the recovery or restoration of ecologically sensitive areas on rural property and allows seeds to be collected in conservation units if under the conditions set forth in the stewardship plan.
- Explain that the exploitation of native forest species, when planted in alternative land use areas, is not a potentially polluting activity and, therefore, does not need to be listed in the Federal Technical Registry of Potentially Polluting Activities (CTF/APP). This amendment aligns with what is already established in the Forest Code and dispels legal doubts that have discouraged farmers from investing in the planting of native trees, an activity that, besides job and income generation, also has a huge impact on the environment;
- Make it clear that the waiver of authorization covers not only the planting but also the preparatory and maintenance activities of the areas under restoration; and
- Authorize the use of non-native species, as long as they are not invasive, in restoration processes, whether or not for the implementation of agroforestry systems. This acknowledges the lawfulness of best agronomic practices that already occur and have proven to be efficient in the restoration of native vegetation.
Bill 5.634/2019, therefore, is very well received as it seeks to improve the regulatory context so that the country can meet its forest restoration target of 12 million hectares by 2030, as stated in the Brazilian NDC. The Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture has held a dialogue among its members, representing several sectors, and believes that the project could be improved to fully comply with its purposes. From this dialogue arose proposals for amendments to the project’s original text, which seek to:
The native vegetation recovery activities can generate over 2.5 million jobs in Brazil, if we consider the efforts to fulfill the voluntary climate target presented by the country in the Paris Agreement, which foresees the restoration of 12 million hectares. It is time to create instruments so that degraded areas, today a symbol of inefficient land use, become sources of employment and drivers of the green economy in Brazil.
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The Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture is a movement composed of more than 350 organizations, among agribusiness entities, companies, civil society organizations, financial sector and the academia.