Where Does Brazil Stand and Where is it Heading in the Implementation of the Forest Code: Opportunities for the New Lula Administration

The report provides a comprehensive snapshot of the implementation of Brazil's Forest Code (Law no. 12,651/2012), focusing on the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) and the Environmental Compliance Program (PRA). While registration in the CAR is largely consolidated, the analysis of this data remains a critical bottleneck, with only 2% of national registrations fully analyzed. The document identifies significant disparities between states, noting that a few, such as Acre, Mato Grosso, and Pará, have completed all implementation stages, while others like Pernambuco, Piauí, and Roraima have stagnated. Key challenges include institutional gaps, lack of technical resources for forest restoration, and the illegal use of CAR for land grabbing on public lands. To address these, the authors recommend a national implementation plan, strengthening the SICAR IT infrastructure, adopting dynamic analysis tools, and aligning the Forest Code with rural credit incentives and anti-deforestation policies.

• The analysis of data reported in the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) is the primary obstacle to implementing the Forest Code, with only 2% of registrations nationwide having undergone a complete analysis by a team or dynamic system.
• Implementation progress varies significantly by state; Acre, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pará, and Rondônia have completed all stages, whereas Pernambuco, Piauí, and Roraima have only implemented the initial registration stage.
• Dynamic analysis tools have high potential for scaling CAR processing, as demonstrated by São Paulo, which analyzed 89% of its registration base in less than a year using a customized system.
• The Environmental Compliance Program (PRA) is only fully operational in four states: Acre, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, and Pará.
• The CAR is being used illegally for land grabbing, leading to thousands of irregular registrations that overlap with federal public lands, including Indigenous Lands and Conservation Units.
• The National Rural Environmental Registry System (SICAR) has suffered from instability and synchronization issues following its April 2022 migration to a cloud environment managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA).
• Financial incentives are being introduced to encourage compliance, such as CMN Resolution no. 5,021/2022, which increases credit limits by 10% for producers with analyzed and compliant CAR registrations.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2023). Where Does Brazil Stand and Where is it Heading in the Implementation of the Forest Code: Opportunities for the New Lula Administration. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/where-does-brazil-stand-and-where-is-it-heading-in-the-implementation-of-the-forest-code-opportunities-for-the-new-lula-administration/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Where Does Brazil Stand and Where is it Heading in the Implementation of the Forest Code: Opportunities for the New Lula Administration. 2023. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/where-does-brazil-stand-and-where-is-it-heading-in-the-implementation-of-the-forest-code-opportunities-for-the-new-lula-administration/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Where Does Brazil Stand and Where is it Heading in the Implementation of the Forest Code: Opportunities for the New Lula Administration |date=15 March 2023 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/where-does-brazil-stand-and-where-is-it-heading-in-the-implementation-of-the-forest-code-opportunities-for-the-new-lula-administration/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2023where, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Where Does Brazil Stand and Where is it Heading in the Implementation of the Forest Code: Opportunities for the New Lula Administration}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2023}, month = mar, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/where-does-brazil-stand-and-where-is-it-heading-in-the-implementation-of-the-forest-code-opportunities-for-the-new-lula-administration/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }