36. Protection of the Soil Resource in the Brazilian Environmental Legislation

Brazil has been attracting great interest in international environmental discussions because of its large territory and diverse natural resource base; a large part of which is still mostly pristine. Deforestation of the Atlantic and Amazonian rain forests and massive conversion of the Cerrado by haphazard land development, especially the expansion of livestock and grain/biofuel production, have sparked widespread concern of mounting soil and water degradation and loss of biodiversity. As a response to these ensuing risks of environmental degradation, comprehensive legislation has been enacted at the federal level to protect ecosystem services, with greater emphasis in waters and biodiversity. The recent revision of the Brazilian Forestry Code (BFC) in spite of the name clearly stands out as an environmental law, an overarching legislation dealing with key aspects of terrestrial ecosystems as well as land tenure. BFC contains conservation provisions that affect both private and public-owned land, not only remaining vegetation fragments but also extending onto farmed land. The word “solo” (soil) appears 40 times in the 82 articles that comprise BFC, in most instances associated with “protection” or “sustainable use.” The soil resource has been historically treated in an off-handed manner in Brazilian legislation, but more recently some Brazilian states have advanced supplemental legislation (known as Leis do Solo – “Soil Laws”) addressing specific conservation and management issues to safeguard this key resource for future generations. There is ample opportunity for soil scientists to engage in this new legal context, a grand effort to conserve natural resources and institutionalize sustainable land use in Brazil.