Seminar on Regulation of Agroforestry and Fallow Land Practices

July 10, 2014.   More than 100 participants representing farmers, municipal governments, and state and federal environment agencies from throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro gathered at the II Seminar on Regulation of Agroforestry and Fallow Land Practices in Rio de Janeiro, organized by the Associação Mico-Leão-Dourado (AMLD) and the AS-PTA (Family Agriculture and Agroecology) at the União Biological Reserve.

With the objective of discussing state regulations for agroforestry practices (INEA Resolution 86) and the Rural Environmental Land Registry (Cadastro Ambiental Rural - CAR) created in Brazil’s new Forest Code, the seminar brought together farm families and government environmental agencies to reduce conflicts and strengthen environmentally sustainable agriculture in the state.  Farm families raised many questions to better understand what compliance will be required on their properties.

The CAR is a fundamental tool for the process of compliance with environmental regulations on rural properties.  It consists of a database of geo-referenced information for each property, including boundaries of Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs), Legal Reserve (RL), remaining native vegetation, area zoned rural, areas of social interest and areas of public use, with the objective of producing a digital map from which the values of the areas are calculated for an environmental diagnostic. 

The INEA Resolution Number 086 defines criteria and procedures for the development, management, and exploitation of agroforestry systems and for the practice of fallow lands in Rio de Janeiro state.  Several items of the resolution still need adjustments for landowners to be able to carry out the required bureaucratic processes and continue work on their properties .

The seminar participants enjoyed breakfast and lunch prepared from foods produced on agroforestry plots on family farms in the region. The seminar was organized by the AMLD Environmental Extension Program, coordinated by Nelsinho Barbosa, and received financial support from the Usina Terma Electica Norte Fluminense.