André Gustavo Nave

Instrumentos legais podem contribuir para a restauração de florestas tropicais biodiversas

The failure of most efforts undertaken to restore natural high-diversity tropical forests, like the Atlantic Forest, has resulted in a very intense round of discussions on the science and best-practice of ecological restoration in the state of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil. This culminated in the participatory elaboration of a state resolution concerning technical and orientation aspects for restoration activities, which has been reviewed and updated periodically in workshops that bring together more than 200 professionals. The aim of this resolution was to maximize the establishment of biologically viable forests, with plant richness consistent with the reference ecosystem, to ensure the persistence of restored forests and protect native biodiversity. The contributions of this resolution for the improvement and stimulation of restoration actions are evident today. Between 2003 and 2008, when the resolution was heavily discussed, seedling production of native shrubs and trees in the state increased from 13,000,000 (55 nurseries) to 33,000,000 (114 nurseries) per year, and average number of plant species produced in nurseries also increased from 30 to over 80, reflecting the increase of restoration actions. In our view, the existing legal instrument has served well as a mechanism to accompany environmental public policy aimed at protection of the collective interests of society. In particular, it guides and orients the bulk of investments in ecological restoration and enhances the prospects for maximizing the societal benefits that can and should be obtained from restoration activities, including the persistence of biodiversity in human-modified tropical landscapes.

Fenologia da frutificação de espécies vegetais nativas e a restauração florestal no arquipélago de Fernando de Noronha, PE, Brasil

Fructification phenology of native plant species and the forest restoration in Fernando de Noronha archipelago, Pernambuco State, Brazil). The annual pattern of fructification phenology of 23 native species of trees and bushes of Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco State, Brazil was characterized with the aim of guiding the seed collection towards the implementation of a local restoration program. It was found that most species (74%) presented higher absolute frequencies of fructification during the rainy season (January to July) as opposed to 26% during the dry season, and the fructification lasted, on average, one month and a half. The Spearman correlation coefficient indicated a positive correlation between the studied phenophases and the precipitation. This kind of study is strategic for planning the seed collection and seedling production for restoration programs, especially in places where the process of Ecological Restoration is just beginning and still lacks information, such as Fernando de Noronha.

How Legal-Oriented Restoration Programs Enhance Landscape Connectivity? Insights From the Brazilian Atlantic Forest:

Environmental legislation has fostered ecological restoration programs worldwide, but few studies have reported the outcomes for landscape connectivity. Here, we investigated the contribution of forest restoration programs planned to comply with the Brazilian Forest Code for increasing forest cover and landscape connectivity in agricultural landscapes of southeastern Brazil. We gathered data for 85 landscapes and 2,408 rural properties, totalizing 748,601 ha of farmlands within the Atlantic Forest biome and its ecotone with Cerrado, two global hotspots for biodiversity conservation. Together, rural properties account for 50,783 ha of native vegetation deficit found on Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs). On the basis of this, we performed a landscape connectivity analysis by simulating scenarios in accordance with the requirements of the legislation for two sugarcane mills that are already under ongoing restoration efforts. We evaluated the relative changes promoted by restoring all deforested riparian buffers within APPs, as determined by the Forest Code. The simulation of restoration at the property-level resulted in the reconnection of isolated forest patches, reducing their number in the landscape and increasing their overall and core size. At the sugarcane mill level, the restoration of riparian forests increased the index of connectivity. Despite these benefits, final forest cover (remnant plus restored forests) would still be reduced (<20%—the minimum forest cover on the private land to comply with the environmental law) in most landscapes and insufficient to conserve species sensitive to forest fragmentation. The mandatory restoration of riparian buffers plays a relevant role for improving landscape connectivity in human-modified tropical landscapes, but this strategy shall be complemented by other approaches to increase forest cover and landscape connectivity to mitigate the enormous species extinction debt accumulated for tropical forests.