“It is a fact, from the point of view of Comparative Law, that Brazilian farmers are the ones who most preserve forests within their rural properties…”
Leonardo Munhoz is a researcher and professor at FGV Agro and FGV OCBio, with a M.Sc. in business law from FGV, and a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in environmental legislation from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law – Pace University.
AgriBrasilis – What is missing for the implementation of the 2012 Forest Code (CFlor)?
Leonardo Munhoz – The 2012 Brazillian Forest Code had its implementation delayed due to judicialization in the Supreme Federal Court and problems in the validation of the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR). Now that the judicialization is almost over (i.e., awaiting the judgment on the issue of ecological identity for the Legal Reserve compensation criteria), the implementation is gaining momentum. However, some problems still persist with the CAR, mainly in the case of land challenges and overlapping rural properties.
AgriBrasilis – You said that the European Union should learn from the Brazilian Forest Code. In what sense?
Leonardo Munhoz – The EU, with great effort, has managed to pass a rule to repair some specific areas of mangroves (Nature Restoration Law), while the Forest Code, with the figure of the Permanent Preservation Area (APP) and the Legal Reserve, manages to preserve a large area of vegetation cover, for several biomes, within the farms.
The Brazilian Forest Code is the only forestry regulation in the world that can achieve this goal. Most other countries work to preserve forests using public environmental service payment programs, in which governments pay farmers to voluntarily preserve small areas on their farms and/or for good agricultural practices (Conservation Programs in the US and Eco-Schemes in the EU). It is a fact, from a comparative law perspective, that Brazilian farmers are the ones who preserve the most forests on their properties.
AgriBrasilis – In 2023, the European Parliament adopted a measure that will have a major impact on Brazilian exports, the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Could you comment on this resolution and its effects so far?
Leonardo Munhoz – The EUDR aims to prohibit sales and import into European territory of agricultural products derived from the production of cattle, coffee, palm oil, timber, rubber, soybeans and cocoa originating from deforestation that occurred after 2020, with the aim of preserving forests, biodiversity and combating climate change. However, for the EU, the concept of deforestation encompasses both illegal and legal deforestation.
In Brazil, the Forest Code allows for some deforestation, authorized by the competent environmental agency, therefore, on this point, the EUDR conflicts with our law, generating losses for farmers who are regularized in Brazil. The EU signaled the possibility of extending the deadline for the law to come into effect, something that can be seen as an opportunity for Brazil to better negotiate this point, avoiding conflicts with national law.
AgriBrasilis – What is the role of livestock farming in the Brazilian climate agenda?
Leonardo Munhoz – Livestock farming has an important role in the climate agenda, since it can stop being an emitter of greenhouse gases and become part of the solution. The Degraded Pasture Recovery Program has great potential to allow livestock areas to have a large capacity for carbon storage in the soil.
AgriBrasilis – Are we making progress in the recovery of degraded pastures in the country?
Leonardo Munhoz – Federal Decree No. 11815/2023 was recently published, establishing the National Program for the Conversion of Degraded Pastures into Sustainable Forestry and Livestock Production Systems (PNCPD). This program has the clear and direct objective of recovering the country’s degraded pastures. Today, it is estimated that Brazil has around 28 million hectares of degraded pastures. In other words, the PNCPD, if effective, will enable Brazil to also achieve its pasture recovery goals in its Nationally Determined Contribution – NDC (i.e., 15 million hectares). The program is directly related to the decarbonization of the Brazilian economy regarding the agricultural sector.
AgriBrasilis – Why does the Brazil, Climate, Forest and Agriculture Coalition believe that re-discussing the Forest Code would pose risks to agriculture?
Leonardo Munhoz – The Coalition rightly understands that new questions and changes in interpretation of the Forest Code are not compatible with what we really need at this time. Brazil needs to move forward with its agenda to implement the forest code law, especially because this is part of Brazil’s own climate goal within the scope of the Paris Agreement (NDC). Re-discussing the Code not only delays the sustainability agenda (to which Brazil has made commitments), but also creates legal uncertainty in the rural sector, especially regarding the role of farmers in this agenda.
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