IMPACTOS DA MUDANÇA NO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL BRASILEIRO NO CONTEXTO DA AGRICULTURA DE BASE FAMILIAR

Technical assistance and rural extension services should be based on sustainable development initiatives and, in theory, environmental legislation should be the benchmark for the beginning of agricultural sustainability. In accordance with this understanding, the Forest Code of 1965 defined parameters for the conservation of vegetation in rural properties. Of scientific importance, these parameters were significantly reduced by the Law 12.551/2012, which repealed the Forest Code. Aiming to support the Extension Program for Sustainable Rural Development, developed by the Agricultural Mechanization Laboratory of UEPG, the change in Brazilian environmental legislation was analyzed through surveys of 304 family-based rural properties in ten municipalities in the state of Parana. In nine municipalities, the legal reserve area exceeded the quantitative required by the Forest Code. On the other hand, the new legislation made it unnecessary the recovery of 86.76 ha of permanent preservation areas required by previous legislation, reduced now to only 0.55 ha. This finding is a cause of concern to the demands of soil conservation, water and biodiversity.