Regulating Forest Compensation for Legal Deforestation in Brazil

This report by the Climate Policy Initiative and PUC-Rio analyzes federal and state legislation regarding forest compensation for legal deforestation in Brazil. It examines how the 2012 Forest Code regulates conservation on private lands and identifies significant gaps in state-level implementation, technical criteria, and monitoring systems.

• The Brazilian Forest Code (Law no. 12,651/2012) regulates environmental conservation on private lands through Permanent Preservation Areas (APP), where vegetation must remain intact, and Legal Forest Reserves, where only sustainable forest management is permitted. While the law allows for legal deforestation of approximately 100 million hectares of native vegetation in unprotected private areas, such actions require prior authorization and reforestation as compensation.
• There is a significant lack of alignment between state and federal laws, with only nine states possessing forest compensation legislation that fully complies with current federal rules. Many states have not updated their laws since the 2012 Forest Code, resulting in outdated and complex regulations that hinder implementation by both environmental agencies and obligated parties.
• Current forest compensation is often viewed through the lens of raw material sustainability to ensure the supply of forest products, rather than environmental compensation. Technical criteria in federal and most state laws are insufficient for effective ecological restoration because they allow for the use of exotic species and the reforestation of areas smaller than those deforested.
• Most states lack transparency and monitoring tools to track forest compensation progress. The report recommends that states implement information systems with geospatial data linking suppressed vegetation areas to restored areas to allow for societal monitoring.

APA

Climate Policy Initiative (2021). Regulating Forest Compensation for Legal Deforestation in Brazil. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/regulating-forest-compensation-for-legal-deforestation-in-brazil/

Chicago

Climate Policy Initiative. Regulating Forest Compensation for Legal Deforestation in Brazil. 2021. https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/regulating-forest-compensation-for-legal-deforestation-in-brazil/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Policy Initiative |title=Regulating Forest Compensation for Legal Deforestation in Brazil |date=3 August 2021 |url=https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/regulating-forest-compensation-for-legal-deforestation-in-brazil/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatepolicyinitiative2021regulating, author = {{Climate Policy Initiative}}, title = {{Regulating Forest Compensation for Legal Deforestation in Brazil}}, institution = {Climate Policy Initiative}, year = {2021}, month = aug, url = {https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/regulating-forest-compensation-for-legal-deforestation-in-brazil/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }