New restoration plan could trigger the Forest Code, environmentalists believe

In Brazil's program during the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity – COP16 , held in Cali, Colombia, from October 21st to November 1st, great emphasis was given to the launch of the new version of the National Plan for the Recovery of Native Vegetation , Planaveg, which plans to reforest 12 million hectares by 2030. Experts interviewed by Mongabay expressed optimism with the Brazilian position, but highlighted challenges in recovering this area, larger than the territory of Portugal.

Marcelo Elvira states that the Forest Code Observatory (OCF ), where he serves as executive secretary, “is optimistic about the new Planaveg”, which he considers to be the result of a collective construction process led by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA ). “We have the expectation that this initiative can launch the Forest Code ”, says the environmentalist, who considers a boost to the impact of COP16 to be feasible, although he points out dilemmas. “Planaveg is a direction. But this is not just an initiative from the federal government, it needs state governments too”, he says.

As part of the challenges, the Forest Code Thermometer indicates that the environmental liability of this legislation — that is, stretches of native vegetation on private lands that were deforested, but which, according to the code, should not have been — is 20.7 million hectares. In these cases, Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) and Legal Reserves are included. The majority, according to the OCF, is a Legal Reserve, with 17.8 million degraded hectares.

Rômulo Batista, spokesperson for Greenpeace Brazil, highlights the collaborative process related to the relaunch of this public policy as positive points of the so-called Planaveg 2.0. “The update of the plan involved several sectors, including governments, civil society and the private sector, promoting inclusive and participatory governance.” For him, “the plan emphasizes the integration of restoration with socioeconomic development, aiming to reduce inequalities and promote food security”.

However, Batista points out challenges. “Executing the plan requires efficient coordination between different levels of government and sectors, in addition to robust financial mechanisms to make the proposed actions viable.” Furthermore, it assesses the engagement and active participation of local communities as central to the success of this initiative, “respecting traditional knowledge and promoting direct benefits”.

Mauricio Bianco, vice-president of Conservation International (CI-Brazil), states that “as we are looking for new partners to increase the scale [of restoration], [the organization] is directly contributing to Brazil's commitment to Planaveg ”. “We have restoration models that are pilots to carry out tests and models linked to the market, with private companies, to scale. All of this has a direct impact on this public policy”, observes the executive of the environmental organization, which already works with restoration in Brazil and during COP16 announced a partnership with re.green to recover up to 12 thousand hectares in the Atlantic Forest, the Amazon and the Cerrado, but with an initial focus on the extreme south of Bahia.

During COP16, a team of Brazilian and foreign researchers published a study in the journal Nature that highlights the importance of forest restoration in tackling the climate crisis and loss of biodiversity. The publication identified, in countries with tropical forests, an area of ​​215 million hectares (larger than the surface of Mexico) with potential for natural regeneration, the costs of which are lower than those of assisted forest restoration. Of this total, 55.12 million are located in Brazilian territory; an area equivalent to the state of Bahia.