The Committee on Environment (CMA) approved in November 23 the basic text of the substitutive bill of Brazilian Forest Code.
The amendment resulted from an understanding set among senators, government representatives and from the rural sector, was presented to CMA and changes approximately eleven articles of the substitute bill. One of the main changes deals with the recovery of illegally deforested Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA).
The approved text grants the maintenance of activities on river banks to all rural properties, consolidated until 2008, being mandatory, for rivers up to ten meters large, the recovery of vegetation strips of at least 15 meters, counted from the regular riverbed. This represents half of what is demanded for PPAs along river banks.
For larger rivers, the amendment establishes that small properties, up to four fiscal modules, should recover forest strips corresponding to half the length of a river, and might vary from 30 meters to, at most, 100 meters. Such mandatory recovery, also for a small property, will not be able to exceed the percentages defined for legal reserve areas (20% of the property area, except for the Amazon, which holds variable rules).