**3. Legal issues concerning forest management in southern Brazil**

Environmental law in Brazil is expressed mainly through the current Forest Code (Brasil, 1965) and subsequent regulations. The Forest Code considers that interventions in forested areas should be prescribed according to approved Management Plans (MP). However, for many years and in most cases, MPs have become synonymous with illegal logging practices. It was not until 1994 that the government defined SFM in practical terms through Decree 1.282 (Brasil, 1994). In establishing an official SFM policy, Brazil adopted the reduced-impact logging (RIL) concept as the basis for forest management (for the development of RIL see Putz & Pinard, 1993; The International Tropical Timber Organization [ITTO], 1990; and Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 1993). The definition of a policy

Sustainable Forest Management in Rural Southern Brazil:

Environment (MMA, 2008).

can be an important part of rural life.

appropriate; and e) ensure inter-sectoral cooperation.

the demands and interests of landowners.

minimum area of forest land recognized is 0.40 ha (Smith et al., 2009).

**resources management** 

Exploring Participatory Forest Management Planning 101

forbidden); and c) forest management is forbidden unless the forest is composed of at least sixty percent of native pioneer tree species (and therefore restricted to very early successional stages). Furthermore, all forest management is subjected to environmental agency authorization. Additionally, *Araucaria angustifolia* and other important species are included in the list of "Endangered Species of the Brazilian flora" by the Ministry of

Given all the impediments to which Araucaria Forest is subjected, it is no wonder that many have given up on it. Landowners no longer consider the forest as a source of products and services; in many cases it is seen as an obstacle to other economic activities, especially agriculture. Although broad and specific legislation (especially the Atlantic Forest Law) on the management of Araucaria Forest resources have attempted to promote sustainable management through the diffusion of technologies, the management of forested areas is mostly forbidden. Therefore, it is a critical moment in a growing effort, championed by a group of researchers, to show that natural forests in Southern Brazil can be recovered and

**4. The development of a system for engaging local communities in natural** 

Before introducing the main components of our approach, it is important to clarify the terminology used. Initially, we understand that landscape level planning and management for natural resource governance (notably SFM) is the foundation of territorial zoning and follow the 12 principles, discussed and adopted by countries at the Convention of Biological Development (CBD). In applying the principles of the ecosystem approach, the following five points are proposed as operational guidance: a) focus on the relationships and processes within ecosystem; b) enhance benefit-sharing; c) use adaptive management practices; d) carry out management actions at the scale appropriate for the issue being addressed, with decentralization to lowest level, as

Following FAO, SFM is defined as the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfill, now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions, at local, national, and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other ecosystems (FAO, 2005). This leads us to the idea behind "forest lands", which are defined by the US Forest Service as land at least 10% stocked with live trees, or land formerly having such a tree cover, and not currently developed for non-forest use. The

The development of a land management system that could integrate multiple uses of natural resources with a participatory approach in a social and politically complex context was one of the first and most difficult challenges to overcome. By using traditional forest management concepts, adapted to the current stage of scientific knowledge and societal comprehensiveness, we introduced a participatory approach as a means to engage local communities in order to build a management plan that could provide landowners with ways to plan the use of their properties by combining agroforestry, forest management and natural resource conservation. The decision-making process uses local ecological knowledge (LEK) as part of the input necessary for establishing the goals and objectives and is based on

for forest management enabled Brazil to sign the Tarapoto Proposal of Criteria and Indicators (C&I) in 1995, which forms the basis of sustainable management in Brazil's tropical forests. However, Brazil's legislation and signed international agreements focus on management of tropical forests; the need for regulating the use of forests in Southern Brazil (which are mostly subtropical) only began to be addressed more than a decade after the adoption of SFM in the Amazon.

Fig. 1. Original geographic distribution of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest with *Araucaria angustifolia* 

The first specific legislation concerning tropical and sub-tropical forests outside the Amazon biome was enacted in 2006 and is known as the Atlantic Forest Law (Brasil, 2006; 2008). This legislation, aiming to protect forest cover through rigid control, banned any land use that could potentially cause deforestation and restricted forest use to only non-commercial purposes based on the following regulations: a) management is permitted only when it does not produce tradable products or sub products, directly or indirectly; b) sustainable agroforestry management may be carried out in consortium with exotic species, in forestry or agricultural models (however commercial use of the wood from native tree species is

for forest management enabled Brazil to sign the Tarapoto Proposal of Criteria and Indicators (C&I) in 1995, which forms the basis of sustainable management in Brazil's tropical forests. However, Brazil's legislation and signed international agreements focus on management of tropical forests; the need for regulating the use of forests in Southern Brazil (which are mostly subtropical) only began to be addressed more than a decade after the

Fig. 1. Original geographic distribution of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest with *Araucaria* 

The first specific legislation concerning tropical and sub-tropical forests outside the Amazon biome was enacted in 2006 and is known as the Atlantic Forest Law (Brasil, 2006; 2008). This legislation, aiming to protect forest cover through rigid control, banned any land use that could potentially cause deforestation and restricted forest use to only non-commercial purposes based on the following regulations: a) management is permitted only when it does not produce tradable products or sub products, directly or indirectly; b) sustainable agroforestry management may be carried out in consortium with exotic species, in forestry or agricultural models (however commercial use of the wood from native tree species is

adoption of SFM in the Amazon.

*angustifolia* 

forbidden); and c) forest management is forbidden unless the forest is composed of at least sixty percent of native pioneer tree species (and therefore restricted to very early successional stages). Furthermore, all forest management is subjected to environmental agency authorization. Additionally, *Araucaria angustifolia* and other important species are included in the list of "Endangered Species of the Brazilian flora" by the Ministry of Environment (MMA, 2008).

Given all the impediments to which Araucaria Forest is subjected, it is no wonder that many have given up on it. Landowners no longer consider the forest as a source of products and services; in many cases it is seen as an obstacle to other economic activities, especially agriculture. Although broad and specific legislation (especially the Atlantic Forest Law) on the management of Araucaria Forest resources have attempted to promote sustainable management through the diffusion of technologies, the management of forested areas is mostly forbidden. Therefore, it is a critical moment in a growing effort, championed by a group of researchers, to show that natural forests in Southern Brazil can be recovered and can be an important part of rural life.
