Brazilian Agriculture and Environmental Legislation: Status and Future Challenges

Brazilian agriculture covers about one-third of the land area and is expected to expand further. We assessed the compliance of present Brazilian agriculture with environmental legislation and identified challenges for agricultural development connected to this legislation. We found (i) minor illegal...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environmental science & technology Vol. 44; no. 16; pp. 6046 - 6053
Main Authors:	Sparovek, Gerd, Berndes, Göran, Klug, Israel L. F, Barretto, Alberto G. O. P
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Washington, DC American Chemical Society 15-08-2010
Subjects:	Agricultural policy Agriculture Agriculture - legislation & jurisprudence Agriculture - trends amazon Applied sciences biofuels Brazil cerrado Cities climate-change Compliance Conservation of Natural Resources - legislation & jurisprudence Conservation of Natural Resources - trends deforestation Environment Environmental law Environmental policy Environmental science ethanol-production Exact sciences and technology expansion Geography land-cover change Legislation Policy making Pollution prospects sugarcane Vegetation South America Brazil America Environmental policy Riparian Food industry Legislation Vegetation Agriculture Biofuel Biodiversity Modeling Land use Environmental protection
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Summary:	Brazilian agriculture covers about one-third of the land area and is expected to expand further. We assessed the compliance of present Brazilian agriculture with environmental legislation and identified challenges for agricultural development connected to this legislation. We found (i) minor illegal land use in protected areas under public administration, (ii) a large deficit in legal reserves and protected riparian zones on private farmland, and (iii) large areas of unprotected natural vegetation in regions experiencing agriculture expansion. Achieving full compliance with the environmental laws as they presently stand would require drastic changes in agricultural land use, where large agricultural areas are taken out of production and converted back to natural vegetation. The outcome of a full compliance with environmental legislation might not be satisfactory due to leakage, where pristine unprotected areas become converted to compensate for lost production as current agricultural areas are reconverted to protected natural vegetation. Realizing the desired protection of biodiversity and natural vegetation, while expanding agriculture to meet food and biofuel demand, may require a new approach to environmental protection. New legal and regulatory instruments and the establishment of alternative development models should be considered.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0013-936X 1520-5851 1520-5851
DOI:	10.1021/es1007824