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signifi cantly cuts back APPs and legal reserve areas. Although the Senate
improved the wording of the bill (PLC 30/2011) somewhat, the version it
approved in December 2011 included various provisions that run against the
interests of Brazilian society, which will no longer have access to remedies
for environmental damage caused by a variety of players. Since the Senate
did introduce some changes to the bill, it was sent back to the House, but
then signed by the President to become a law in May 2012.
The specifi c provisions on hills, mounts, mountains and ranges have
kept APPs for slopes steeper than 45º. But for hills and mountain sides
between 25º and 45º, also subject to landslides, the law will now allow
sustainable forest management, agro-forestry pastures and the infrastructure
required for these activities. Plant cover will only be included in an APP on
mountain and hill tops with altitudes over 100 meters and slopes averaging
more than 25º, two requirements introduced by the new Forest Code.
These changes exemplify major losses for permanent preservation areas,
since lower-altitude hilltops will no longer require plant cover, just as more
moderate slopes will allow native vegetation to give way to a plethora of
previously illegal activities. Nor will there be any further protection for
rolling-hill landforms with gentle ridges and rounded tops. One therefore
might wonder what the future will hold for Brazil's hills, mounts, mountains
and ranges, 'water towers' of the world and global reservoirs of biodiversity,
essential for the well-being of the population and for the capacity to respond
to climate change.
References
Price, M.F., G. Gratzer, L.A. Duguma, T. Kohler, D. Maselli and R. Romeo. 2011. Mountain
Forests in a Changing World—Realizing Values, addressing challenges. FAO/MPS and
SDC, Rome.
Rudaz, G. 2011. The cause of mountains: the politics of promoting a global agenda. Global
Environmental Politics 11(4): 43-65.
Silva, S.T., S. Cureau and M.D. Leuzinger. 2010. Código Florestal: desafi os e perspectivas.
Fiuza, São Paulo.
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