SUELEM MARTINI ASSMANN
Abstract:
The Forest Code is the measure created to strike a balance between exploitation and nature conservation. Since the first Brazilian Forest Codes (CFBs), the standard efficiency was already discussed, as they stipulated measures that preserved the minimum of each biome. Among the three CFBs created, the New Forest Code (NCF), Law N. 12,651 of May 25, 2012, is the one that least fulfills its role. The NCF proves to be a reflection of capital's longings in a somewhat misleading view of the sustainabilist current discussed in this paper. Given this model of thinking, one can understand why the controversial changes in this code and what practices define them. In this work, the consequences of NCF in the Cerrado landscape were analyzed through a case study in the Ribeirão Paraíso sub-basin, in Jataí-GO municipality, where several alterations could be observed. In the results, it was observed the total amount of area previously protected by the forest code decreased by 38% in the NCF. The areas of this study that suffered the most from code changes were: first, flooded PPAs, which suffered a 100% decrease; secondly, spring APPs, which fell 91%; and, thirdly, the lake APP, suffering a 70% decrease in the permanent area. Through other studies of the Cerrado and other biomes, it was observed that these landscape changes reflect the entire ecosystem, presenting complications for species of plants, insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and mammals. These changes are mainly due to habitat change, summarizing a wide diversity of species in only a few generalists, as well as effects on the quality and quantity of river water and rainfall in the region, on the physical, chemical and biological quality of soils. Through pre- and post-NCF landscape projection maps, it could be understood that code changes are much larger in practice than they were in law.
