target 1 - Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica

Conclusions and Recommendations
It is fundamental to include matters related to the protection, preservation, recovery,
and sustainable use of biodiversity in the different spheres of the government and
public policies. Without them, it becomes difficult to effectively advance towards
sustainable development. To achieve this inclusion or mainstreaming of these matters
to the several public bodies and levels, as well as the many industries of the economy,
it is necessary to have political knowledge, planning, and will, in addition to the
indispensable legal and financial instruments.
Regarding the Mata Atlântica, as seen in Goal C, the legal instruments already exist, but
face serious danger of setbacks. As mentioned in Goal A, the population is informed
on the importance and urgency of environmental matters and is willing to do their
share. However, a remaining problem is the lack of political will and insufficiency of the
implementation frameworks, and the federal and state bodies lack staff and structure.
As to the municipalities, the issue is more serious, since the absolute majority has
neither an Environment Council nor a technical body to locally execute environmental
policies.
The worst problem, however, is that after decades of systematic progresses to improve
the environmental rules, in the last years there have been countless legislation
initiatives, that try to weaken or even revoke rules that took so much effort to conquer,
with the under the Executive’s approval. The most emblematic example is the Forest
Code, where the two houses of the National Congress approved completely different
and contradictory wordings and eventually that of the Deputies’ Chamber prevailed.
In the specific case of the Mata Atlântica, the Bill of Law No. 2.441/07 is being discussed in
the Deputies’ Chamber, with the purpose to modify the Mata Atlântica Law (11.428/06),
having just been rejected by the Chamber’s Environment Committee, making way for
the suppression of primary vegetation and wood exploration, including endangered
species, in the entire Mata Atlântica. On March 28, 2012, by virtue of the mobilization
of NGOs, the Government and the environmentalist group of the Deputies’ Chamber,
the Chamber’s Environment and Sustainable Development Committee reject the
replacement submitted by Deputy Irajá Abreu. The ruralists intend to appeal the
decision before the Constitution and Justice Committee in the Chamber’s Plenary
Session. This proves that the society must continue to mobilize.
Another initiative of serious setback being discussed in the Congress is the Bill of
Constitutional Amendment (PEC 215), approved in the Constitution and Justice
Committee of the Deputies’ Chamber in March 2012, which intends to transfer to the
legislative (today a prerogative of the Executive) the delimitation of indigenous lands
and also the recognition of quilombola lands and the creation of preservation units.
All of these initiatives arise from the so-called “Ruralist Group” and seeks to reset the
legislation in order to grant amnesty to depredators, forgive penalties for environmental
crimes, and allow new deforestations, in addition to obstruct the creation of preservation
units and the recognition and delimitation of indigenous and quilombola lands. That
is, if any of these initiatives is successful concerning the Mata Atlântica, it will not only
bring difficulties but fully jeopardize the compliance with the CBD Targets for 2020.
As regards the acknowledgment of the importance and value of biodiversity, it can be
said that in the Mata Atlântica there is already a good level of studies and researches