The Configuration of Forest Cover in Ribeirão Preto: A Diagnosis of Brazil’s Forest Code Implementation

Rafael Parras, Gislaine Costa de Mendonça, Renata Cristina Araújo Costa, Teresa Cristina Tarlé Pissarra, Carlos Alberto Valera, Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes and Fernando António Leal Pacheco
Additional contact information
Rafael Parras: Faculty of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP/FCAV), Jaboticabal SP 14884-900, Brazil
Gislaine Costa de Mendonça: Faculty of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP/FCAV), Jaboticabal SP 14884-900, Brazil
Renata Cristina Araújo Costa: Faculty of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP/FCAV), Jaboticabal SP 14884-900, Brazil
Teresa Cristina Tarlé Pissarra: Faculty of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP/FCAV), Jaboticabal SP 14884-900, Brazil
Carlos Alberto Valera: POLUS—Land Use Policy Group, Paulista State University (UNESP), Access Way Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal SP 14884–900, Brazil
Luís Filipe Sanches Fernandes: POLUS—Land Use Policy Group, Paulista State University (UNESP), Access Way Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal SP 14884–900, Brazil
Fernando António Leal Pacheco: POLUS—Land Use Policy Group, Paulista State University (UNESP), Access Way Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n, Jaboticabal SP 14884–900, Brazil

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-13

Abstract: The fragmentation of forests is a consequence of human activities that intensively change the natural landscapes. In Brazil, there is a long-standing legal framework for native vegetation protection, called Forest Code. The last update is from 2012. The revisions incorporated in this restructured code (Law No. 12,651/12) encompassed new rules, rights and obligations for adequate land use management of productive systems and for environmental conservation and protection. An example of a protective measure was the creation of a Legal Reserve inside the rural properties and Areas of Permanent Protection around the watercourses. This study explored the effects of implementing the new code on the spatial and temporal evolution of forest cover fragmentation since the legal changes were set up. In that context, the area, perimeter and shape (circularity index) of forest fragments, as well as the buffer strips along watercourses, were assessed from 2010 to 2016 within the municipality of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo state, Brazil. The assessment resorted to remote sensing techniques and visual inspection of orbital images. It was clear from the results that forest patches became more abundant but smaller, more dispersed and elongated, and that this route to fragmentation was hinged on a chaotic expansion of urban and agricultural areas. Important edge effects were anticipated from these results. The area numbers revealed that Ribeirão Preto was 7.95% covered with forest fragments in 2010, while this percentage rose to 8.03% in 2013 and reached 8.35% in 2016. Most of this increase occurred within a 30-meter wide buffer along the watercourses. This was a positive outcome. However, the numbers also revealed that forested areas smaller than 51 hectares increased from 71% in 2010 to 73% in 2016. The conclusions were that implementation of Law No. 12,651/12 is leading to an increase of forestland, but not yet promoting sustainability, namely through improved connectivity among fragments for reduction of edge effects and provision ecosystem services.

Keywords: land use policy; environmental law; sustainability; ecosystem services; Brazilian forest code; forest fragmentation; landscape ecology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5686/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/14/5686/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:14:p:5686-:d:384797

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().