THE FOREST CODE AND ITS FLEXIBILIZATION IN PERMANENT PRESERVATION AREAS IN GOIÁS SAVANNA REGION, BRAZIL

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the implications of the current Forest Code of the state of Goiás, with regard to the use of Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) in the Metropolitan Region of Goiânia (RMG). The flexibilities provided in the current legislation, such as inclusion of the concept of Consolidated Rural Area (ARC) and the extension of the criteria for the use of APPs in Consolidated Urban Area (AUC), regularized the occupation of APPs, generating setback in environmental legislation. From the last mapping developed in this research, referring to land use of metropolitan APPs, associated with the National Rural Environmental Registry System, it was possible to identify in the RMG that the ARC represents more than 60% of the properties rural areas, covering a significant part of APPs, which, in turn, have reduced their protection metrics. In the urban area, the problem is repeated in the AUC, with emphasis on the municipalities of Aparecida de Goiânia and Goiânia, with 67.99% and 60.39% of their APPs located in the AUC, respectively. In this regard, conflicts are observed in the APPs, reinforced by legal instruments, such as the Forest Code, which, instead of penalizing lawbreakers, brings ambiguous interpretations, regularizing occupation in preservation areas.