Legal Reserve Research Articles

O Custo Privado da Reserva Legal para os Produtores Agropecuários de São Paulo e Mato Grosso nos Anos de 1995 e 2006

Resumo: Apesar de a reserva legal gerar benefícios ambientais e ecológicos, ela implica custos de oportunidade ao produtor agrícola. O objetivo deste artigo é estimar, por meio do modelo de folgas proposto por Zhou, Ang e Poh (2006), o custo de oportunidade da manutenção da reserva legal para os municípios dos estados de São Paulo e Mato Grosso nos anos de 1995 e 2006 (os dois últimos censos agropecuários). A metodologia considera o produtor médio por município e ajusta o número de municípios entre os anos citados segundo a proposta de Paiva (2007, 2008). Entre os resultados obtidos destacam-se: (a) a eficiência técnica e a técnica ambiental são pequenas nos dois estados analisados, mas cresceram entre os anos citados; (b) o custo de oportunidade de manutenção da reserva legal por estabelecimento é menor em São Paulo do que em Mato Grosso (R$ 23.878 e R$ 48.353, respectivamente, em 2006), mas o custo por hectare é 2,22 vezes maior em São Paulo do que em Mato Grosso; (c) a disposição desses custos em mapas permite observar relações de similaridade ou não entre municípios vizinhos, o que permitirá, no futuro, explorar relações espaciais entre esses custos. Trabalhos futuros poderão, também, atualizar a análise deste artigo à medida que novos dados censitários estejam disponíveis.

Elaboração de Carta de Adequabilidade Ambiental de uma pequena propriedade rural no município de São Miguel Arcanjo, São Paulo, utilizando técnicas de geoprocessamento

RESUMO Utilizando técnicas de geoprocessamento, cartas de declividades, de solos, de uso e cobertura vegetal, a Lei Federal nº 12.651/2012 e as recomendações do Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) para áreas ripárias, este trabalho teve por objetivo elaborar uma Carta de Adequabilidade Ambiental que indica os níveis de adequação ambiental e legal da área de estudo. A Carta de Uso do Solo e Cobertura Vegetal mostrou que o uso agrícola ocupa 44% da área de estudo, seguido pela vegetação nativa (29,1%). A Carta de Declividaderevela que 62,1% da área de estudo possui classe de declividade entre 6 e 12% e 23,3% entre classe de 12 a 20%. Na área de estudo foi identificado somente o Latossolo Vermelho Distrófico, de baixa vulnerabilidade à erosão. Baseado na lei já citada e recomendações do FSC (2005) para gerenciamento de áreas ripárias, foi elaborada a Carta de Usos Restritosna qual a área de preservação permanente (APP) existente ocupa 22,4% da área, a APP a recompor 0,3%, a reserva legal 18,3% e a área de gestão ripária 9,9%. Essas três últimas cartas temáticas foram sobrepostas, considerando sua importância na conservação dos recursos hídricos e atendimento legal, para gerar a Carta de Uso Conservacionista, que demonstra que as áreas com alta e muito alta prioridade são as APP e as de declividade entre 12 e 20% e representam 45,5% da área de estudo. Essa carta foi sobreposta pela Carta de Uso do Solo e Cobertura Vegetale por meio de uma soma ponderada foi produzida a Carta de Adequação Ambientalque indica os níveis de adequação da área de estudo. A integração de variáveis ambientais com os requisitos legais se mostrou eficaz para avaliar as áreas potenciais para adequação ambiental, indicando que aproximadamente 44% da área de estudo necessita de algum tipo de adequação.

Potencial Terapêutico de Espécies Arbóreas em Fragmentos de Floresta Ombrófila Mista

RESUMO Objetivou-se levantar o potencial terapêutico de espécies arbóreas presentes em remanescentes de Floresta Ombrófila Mista (FOM) localizados no Planalto Sul Catarinense, destacando as que possuem ações terapêuticas atestadas em ensaios científicos, assim como, aquelas com potencial medicinal segundo registros etnobotânicos. Para amostrar a composição florística arbórea foi empregado o método de quadrantes, registrando-se os indivíduos mais próximos do ponto central, que apresentassem DAP ≥ 5 cm. A amostragem foi realizada em Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APP’s) e/ou Reserva Legal, com o auxílio de 20 transecções contendo 20 pontos quadrantes cada, totalizando 2,61 hectares. Dentre as 97 espécies registradas e identificadas no levantamento, 16 possuem ação medicinal descrita e atestada em literatura e 12 espécies são descritas como potenciais de acordo com conceitos etnobotânicos. O presente estudo mostrou que pequenos remanescentes florestais podem contribuir para a manutenção de espécies da FOM e basear futuros estudos sobre plantas medicinais ou com outros potenciais bioativos.

Prediction of Economic Value Added status of Tehran Stock Exchanges by using Genetic Algorithm

The main purpose of this article is to present a model to predict the status of economic value added of Tehran Stock Exchanges by using Genetic Algorithms. Investors’ concern of the return of principle as well as profit of their investment has led us to forecast status of economic value added as a basis to evaluate companies’ performance. Predicting the status of economic value added is one of the ways that can be used to exploit investment opportunities and also to avoid waste of resources. Firstly, necessary warnings can alert companies toward their future performance, moreover investors can recognize good and unfavorable investment opportunities. In this research, independent variables are defined as: Equity premium Reserve, R & D Reserve, Precautionary Reserve, Legal Reserve, Special Reserve, Capital expenditures, Interest Bearing Liabilities, Finance Costs, Capital, Sum of Equity, Long Term Receivables, Nopat, Return of Capital, Investing, Accumulated Profit and Loss, Earning after interest and tax, Receivable Financing Facility and Economic Value Added is as a Dependent variable. The studied population is the accepted companies in Tehran Stock Exchange for the period of 1385 to 1391. At first, by using average test among the variables, those variables that have a significant difference in the two groups of firms with positive EVA and negative EVA are specified. To do so, independent sample T Test from SPSS software is used. Then, using the techniques of Genetic Algorithms, Which is one of the best evolutionary algorithms, variables with greatest ability to distinguish between positive EVA and negative EVA are specified then the predictive model is derived. Derived model from the algorithm enabled us to classify the companies with negative economic value added into the correct categories of negative and positive economic value added, one year prior to the occurrence of negative EVA, with an accuracy of 83%.

An Approach to Environmental Planning and Sustainable Management of Watersheds and Municipalities in Southeastern Brazil

Diagnosis of fragmentation and landscape sustainability conditions are essential to environmental planning and sustainable management of natural resources. Land use spatial patterns and landscape structural indexes (landscape metrics, Urbanity Index— UI, and Landscape Vulnerability Index—LVI) have been proposed to assess biodiversity conservation and ecological sustainability, provided by impact of land use at Middle Mogi Gua&#231u watershed and its seventeen municipalities, in 2009. Land use typologies and structural indexes values were obtained based on screen digitizing of LandSat-5 imagery, for 2009. Cluster analysis and Permutational Multivariate Analysis of Variance were used to test the null hypothesis of equal degrees of fragmentation and sustainability conditions among municipalities in 2009, respectively. Land use spatial pattern showed a predominantly human occupation for watershed and its municipalities, with agricultural use as the main pressure factor. Municipalities were aggregated into three clusters related to forest fragmentation: one categorized by fifteen municipalities; the second cluster (municipality of Luiz Ant&#244nio) showing the best condition, and the third group (municipality of Araraquara) with extreme fragmentation condition. Landscape metrics related with shape, size, and core areas fragments intensify edge effects, and increase habitat isolation. The watershed showed a low naturalness and an intermediate degree of vulnerability. Ecological sustainability was different among municipalities (α = 0.05, F = 32.65 and p = 0.002), with two municipalities (Analandia and Luiz Ant&#244nio) presenting the best conditions. The most committed condition was observed, in municipalities of Rinc&#227o and Guatapara. For conservation policies to be effective must focus on the creation of ecological corridors around legally protected areas, besides creation of new legal reserves, with purpose to improve biodiversity conservation and ecological sustainability of Middle Mogi Gua&#231u watershed and its municipalities.

Prediction of Economic Value Added status of Tehran Stock Exchanges by using Genetic Algorithm

The main purpose of this article is to present a model to predict the status of economic value added of Tehran Stock Exchanges by using Genetic Algorithms. Investors’ concern of the return of principle as well as profit of their investment has led us to forecast status of economic value added as a basis to evaluate companies’ performance. Predicting the status of economic value added is one of the ways that can be used to exploit investment opportunities and also to avoid waste of resources. Firstly, necessary warnings can alert companies toward their future performance, moreover investors can recognize good and unfavorable investment opportunities. In this research, independent variables are defined as: Equity premium Reserve, R & D Reserve, Precautionary Reserve, Legal Reserve, Special Reserve, Capital expenditures, Interest Bearing Liabilities, Finance Costs, Capital, Sum of Equity, Long Term Receivables, Nopat, Return of Capital, Investing, Accumulated Profit and Loss, Earning after interest and tax, Receivable Financing Facility and Economic Value Added is as a Dependent variable. The studied population is the accepted companies in Tehran Stock Exchange for the period of 1385 to 1391. At first, by using average test among the variables, those variables that have a significant difference in the two groups of firms with positive EVA and negative EVA are specified. To do so, independent sample T Test from SPSS software is used. Then, using the techniques of Genetic Algorithms, Which is one of the best evolutionary algorithms, variables with greatest ability to distinguish between positive EVA and negative EVA are specified then the predictive model is derived. Derived model from the algorithm enabled us to classify the companies with negative economic value added into the correct categories of negative and positive economic value added, one year prior to the occurrence of negative EVA, with an accuracy of 83%.

Regulatory powers on the 'physical' public space, in particular of the Spanish local authorities

Beyond the concept of public property designated for a public use or for the provision of a public service, public space is, above all, a place for exercising fundamental rights. The planning of that space, which is the territorial dimension of democracy, is a responsibility - within their respective competences - of the central government, the autonomous communities and also the municipalities through municipal bylaws that, even though they are not regulations pursuant to an act, are subject to the principle of legal reservation if they aim to ensure social coexistence, guaranteeing the possibility for all citizens to enjoy public space while they exercise their rights in a respectful way towards the rights of the others.

English

Siparuna guianensis Aubl. (Siparunaceae) is an aromatic medicinal plant native to South America. This study aimed to investigate the biomass and bioactivity of leaf extracts and essential oil of S. guianensis from savanna forests in Central Brazil, Tocantins State. Crude leaf extract and leaf essential oil were tested in different concentrations against bacteria and fungi. At concentrations equivalent to crude oil (380 µg ml-1), oil diluted to half (190 µg ml-1) and oil diluted to one quarter (95 µg ml-1), the oil inhibited bacterial growth of Staphylococcus aureus. This finding may be related to the major monoterpene and sesquiterpene, especially bisabolol and bisabolene, which have antibacterial properties. The extracts did not exhibit antimicrobial action. Under the natural conditions of the forest legal reserve, the estimated medicinal biomass was 3300 kg ha-1, with the leaf fraction corresponding to 38 kg ha-1 of crude extract and 5 L ha-1 of essential oil. It is an important reservoir of medicinal biomass foliar for prospective studies and popular use against antimicrobial which are of interest to health or agriculture.   Key words: Siparuna guianensis, bioactivity, medicinal biomass, gas chromatography, Brazil, agroecology.

Determination of Density, Shear and Compression Parallel to the Grain Strengths of Pariri (Pouteria sp.), Brazilian Native Wood Specie

Brazil is one of the countries with the largest reserves of tropical forests. Their rational use ensures sustainability in actions developed by extractive companies. However, for this, to know wood properties of species harvested from these reserves is very important. This research aims to the determination of strength in compression parallel to grain; shear strength and density for (Pouteria sp.), vulgarly called Pariri, a wood from a Northern Brazilian legal reserve. Tests were carried out in accordance with Brazilian standard ABNT NBR 7190: 1997. Results obtained in this study permit to concluded that Pariri Wood presents compatible physical and mechanical properties for use in structural purposes.

The role of private rural properties for conserving native vegetation in Brazilian Southern Amazonia

The State of Mato Grosso in Brazil has undergone intensive land use changes over the past decades. Native ecosystems have been converted into agrosystems for the production of cash crops and cattle. The Brazilian Forest Code advocates full protection of specifically sensitive habitats, and it also safeguards a fixed percentage of native vegetation known as “Legal Reserves” (LRs) inside private rural properties. As part of Brazilian Legal Amazonia region, in Mato Grosso, these percentages account for 35 % of savannas and 80 % of forests found inside each rural property. Here we analyze at the scale of the three biomes: Cerrado, Amazonia and Pantanal, the changes in native vegetation cover (NVC) from 1992 to 2007 and the representativeness of NVC types within the LRs, as well as the role of LRs for general landscape configuration and conservation. In Mato Grosso, 90 % of all studied NVC types are represented inside LR patches. Legal Reserves also accounted for 37 % of the total protected areas and for 37.8 % of all remnant NVCs found in Mato Grosso in 2007. The importance of LRs for landscape structure varied greatly according to biome, but it is noteworthy that LRs were generally missing in highly deforested zones. The relative small size of LRs in all biomes (55 to 64 % of them are ≤12 ha) makes them specifically vulnerable to further changes in land use. Considering the current tendency of ongoing fragmentation, the importance of LRs for landscape connectivity should be increased, specifically by improving the network of corridors between these remnant native vegetation areas.

Mudanças do Código Florestal: Uma Análise Institucional da Percepção de Produtores Agrícolas de um Município do Paraná

An extensive restructuring of environmental institutions is occurring due to search of greater awareness of environmental preservation. In Brazil, the discussion of environmental problems is not new and the topic is the subject of a current heated debate. The main current discussion is the new Forest Code (Law 12.651/12), mainly due to changes in relation to small farms. This study aims to verify the farmer’s opinion about these changes. To this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers in a city in Northern Parana, and the data were analyzed by the technique of analysis of the collective discourse. It was observed that there are misconceptions regarding the interpretation of legislation, especially as regards the Permanent Preservation Areas and Legal Reserves.

National bank window dressing, 1866–1871

Market observers accused national banks of window dressing their balance sheets after the American Civil War. A test of window dressing compares two distinct series of legal tender reserves of Philadelphia banks from 1866 to 1871. The test provides some evidence that Philadelphia banks window dressed aggregate legal tender reserves by about 6%. At least in the aggregate, bank window dressing was not overly large during this period.

Agriculture and Forest Transition: Understanding of Land Use Change in a Cultural Landscape

Land use trajectory analysis provides both the time and kind of land cover changes to monitor land use dynamics. Land cover change trajectories for three different dates (1965, 1989 and 2014) extracted from satellite images by vectorization of the thematic information were studied This study was carried out on a cultural landscape (São Carlos municipality, SP, Brazil) with three major land use-cover classes (forest, agriculture and other uses). The results showed the spatio temporal variability of landscape pattern and forest and agriculture change trajectories. Analysis based on these landscape trajectories demonstrates that agriculture and forest cover changes have been caused by human activities. The results reflect the conflicting interactions between environmental and human systems in the study area. A key question is that the pressure exerted on forest land use-cover depends on the incentives that move society from a conflicting relation with a municipal territory. A more sustainable landscape transition and trajectory for São Carlos municipality are extremely dependent on the regulatory role of the government through strategies related to the implementation of specific categories of legally protected areas (Legal Reserves and Areas of Permanent Preservation).

Commodity production in Brazil: Combining zero deforestation and zero illegality

Abstract This article documents the degree of noncompliance of soy producers in the Amazon portion of Mato Grosso with Brazil’s Forest Code and addresses the importance of market demands in shifting agricultural production and land occupation towards zero deforestation. By using a sample composed of the boundaries of 9,113 properties (72.5% of soy in the region) we assessed: a) compliance with Forest Code legal reserve requirements (a percentage of the property must have its original vegetation kept undisturbed); and compared it to b) compliance with the zero deforestation criterion of the soy moratorium. We found that 82% of the sampled properties have not deforested since 2008, thus complying with the soy moratorium. However, approximately 65% out of these 82% are noncompliant with Forest Code legal reserve requirements. This situation is even worse in the Cerrado portion of Mato Grosso. Even though the soy moratorium criterion is only applicable to the Amazon biome, the Forest Code is applicable nationwide. Despite legal reserve requirements being much lower (35% of the property in the Cerrado, as opposed to 80% in the Amazon), almost 70% of sampled properties were noncompliant with the Forest Code. From this analysis we concluded that while there was a role for consumer-driven market demand for zero deforestation soy production, there is still a need (and opportunity) to implement purchasing and financing criteria to promote compliance with Forest Code requirements in regards to legal reserve deficits. We believe that if this succeeds, it will drive a process of restoration and compensation of Forest Code deficits, strengthening public policy as well as reducing economic distortions between those who have and have not complied with Forest Code requirements.

Use of legal reserve areas as geochemical background in hydrosedimentology studies¹

In hydrosedimentology studies the determination of the trace element concentrations at the study site is imperative, since this background can be used to assess the enrichment of sediments with these elements. This enrichment can be the result of the natural process of geological formation or of anthropogenic activities. In the latter case, guidelines are used to indicate the concentrations at which trace elements cause ecotoxicity effects on the environment. Thus, this study used legal reserve areas in the municipality of Toledo, PR, where natural forests are maintained, with no or minimal human interference to establish background levels. The results of atomic emission spectrometry with inductively coupled argon plasma showed that the legal reserves have lower levels of trace elements than other theoretical references, but equivalent concentrations to the safety levels recommended by international guidelines. It was concluded that determining values is fundamental to recommend this background as scientific database for research in the area of hydrosedimentology of this site and also as a way of environmental management of the watershed of this municipality.

Improving the monitoring, control and analysis of the carbon accumulation capacity in Legal Reserves of the Amazon forest

The Amazon forest is host for a large number of deforestation activities caused by artisanal mining and mainly by agriculture and livestock businesses. In order to regulate these activities and relieve the environmental impacts, local authorities have been trying to guide them towards more responsible operations. This paper describes the initiative of monitoring forest areas located near deforestation regions since fundamental elements such as biomass and carbon accumulation of trees may be adequately controlled and monitored against occasional disturbances brought by these activities. The current standard approach in the Amazon is to monitor all trees in the forest within an area called transecto, in order to keep a rigorous record of their behavior and growth. However, these control activities are restricted to controlling portions that are located in strategic areas, therefore they do not represent the entire region to be monitored. This research exploits a new methodology based on geostatistics, aimed at optimizing sampling, and allowing the extension of the study to much larger forest areas, while keeping unitary utilization of human resources unchanged and at the same time, increasing the studied areas footprint and the precision of the results. The proposed methodology also allows the selection of the Legal Reserve (RL) area to be made according to the actual carbon-accumulation distribution on the property's contained forest, allowing the determination of a location target for the RL, what is not possible with the current used methodologies that rely simply on a percentage area utilization for the RL, inside the property. This methodology was applied using the available data set in this paper in order to optimize the samples and to monitor the capacity of the forest to store carbon at Tapajós National Forest, in Pará, Brazil. It is expected that this methodology will contribute to an overall cost decrease per unit area of the monitoring activities, increase the precision for the RL location and simplify the needed procedures through the application of a user friendly toolkit, that can be developed using the proposed methodology, whose complexity is totally transparent to the land and business owners, regulators, environmental scientists and workers involved. This, if correctly applied could ultimately contribute to the sustainable development of the affected regions.

A Study on Special Benefit and Legal Reserve of Inheritance of a Successor-In-Stirps

A Study on Special Benefit and Legal Reserve of Inheritance of a Successor-In-Stirps

IMPACTOS DO NOVO CÓDIGO FLORESTAL NA REGULARIZAÇÃO AMBIENTAL DE PROPRIEDADES RURAIS FAMILIARES

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1980509815735Os efeitos do novo Código Florestal Brasileiro (CFB) - Lei Federal 12.651/2012 - foram avaliados em relação à adequação de unidades familiares de produção conduzidas em sistema de produção orgânico (SPO) ou convencional (SPC). Foram estudadas 17 propriedades rurais do território Portal da Amazônia, quantificando-se as áreas totais, de preservação permanente (APP) e de reserva legal (RL), usando-se o Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG). Compararam-se os resultados com o que é exigido para o bioma Amazônia pelo novo CFB. A maior parte das propriedades avaliadas não apresentou o mínimo exigido para as áreas de RL e APP (nascentes e margem de córregos). As propriedades em SPO apresentaram melhores resultados em relação àquelas conduzidas em SPC quanto à manutenção da vegetação nativa nas APPs, além de um maior percentual de remanescentes florestais compondo a RL das propriedades. Tendo em vista consolidação das áreas desmatadas anteriormente a 22/07/2008, previstas no novo CFB, todas as dezessete propriedades sanaram seus passivos ambientais do ponto de vista da legislação brasileira atual para RL. No caso das APPs, todas as nove propriedades em SPO sanaram seus passivos ambientais, enquanto que no SPC isso ocorreu em quatro das sete avaliadas.

Towards a Neww Inflation Targeting Framework: The Case of Uruguay

Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with financial frictions, this paper evaluates the effects of a rule that incorporates not only the interest rate but also the legal reserve requirements as instruments of monetary policy. It is found that reserve requirements can be used to achieve the Central Bank’s inflation objectives. The use of this instrument, however, produces a real appreciation of the Uruguayan peso. When the Central Bank uses the monetary policy rate as an instrument, the effect of an increase in reserve requirements is to contribute to reducing the negative impact on consumption, investment and output. Nevertheless, the quantitative results in terms of inflation reduction are rather poor. The policy rate becomes more effective in reducing inflation when the reserve requirement instrument is solely directed at achieving financial stability. The paper’s main policy conclusion is that a well-targeted non- conventional policy instrument can help to effectively control inflation.

Impact of the new brazilian forestry code on the adequacy of small farm households to the environmental law

In order to evaluate the effects of Brazil’s new Forest Code on the legal status of farm households, 17 farms, located in Portal da Amazonia territory, northern Mato Grosso state, and managed in either conventional specialized farm (CPS) or organic (OPS) production systems were studied. The total area per farm, as well as the surfaces of legal reserve units and preservation areas were measured by using Geographic Information System (GIS), to allow a comparison of these data with legal requirements for the Amazon Region. Most of the small farm households did not comply with the required percentages of land for Legal Reserve (LR) and Permanent Preservation Areas (PPA), in the latter case regarding riparian areas and areas for protection of water sources. Farms under OPS showed better results regarding preservation of native vegetation as well as higher percentages of forest remnants in their LR. Considering the amnesties and exemptions established by the New Forest Code, most farms have complied with the terms and requirements of current Brazilian environmental regulations.