Glossary
Technical terms, public policies, and initiatives for achieving zero deforestation and conserving forests explained with a simple click, in a quick summary or in full.
Bodies, actions, and means of inspection and control
Deforestation permits󠄀
Licenses issued by public agencies allowing the suppression of native vegetation in certain spaces and during certain periods.
Rural Environmental Registry (CAR)󠄀
Mandatory electronic registration based on self-declaration and aimed at environmental regularization of rural properties across the country.
Commitments and initiatives
Forest restoration
Technique used to recover certain areas with forests and other types of native vegetation similar to those that were lost.
Concepts
Authorized fire
Use of licensed fire to force the renewal of pastures and other agricultural practices.
Commitment breakage date
Date on which deforestation or forest degradation characterize a certain area or unit as productive, breaking commitments not to alter natural vegetation.
Correntão (Big Chain)
A technique that uses a large chain pulled by tractors for the rapid felling of native vegetation.
Date of occurrence
This is the moment when an instance of native vegetation suppression really took place.
Deforestation
Total elimination of native vegetation in a given area followed, in general, by occupation with another coverage or land use
Deforestation Alert
A warning generated by satellite monitoring systems indicating the possible loss of native vegetation in a defined territory
Deforestation by mining
Deforestation by mining is the loss of native vegetation caused by the extraction of varied minerals; this occurs especially in the case of artisanal mining.
Deforestation rate
Estimated or consolidated quantity of native vegetation lost in a given period and territory.
Deforestation with vegetation
Deforested areas with partial presence of native vegetation.
Deforested area
Space where suppression of native vegetation has been proven.
Detection date
Date when a loss of native vegetation is detected by satellite monitoring systems.
Environmental Compensation
Legal instrument used for offenders to financially compensate for socio-environmental damages in the licensing of works and other projects.
Environmental Regularization Program (PRA)
Instrument defined by the New Forest Code that aims to have rural properties comply with federal environmental legislation.
Forest Degradation
Partial and gradual elimination of forest vegetation, usually associated with selective extraction of wood and other natural resources.
Forest fire
Forest fires occur when an uncontrolled fire severely degrades vegetation in a certain area. They may be caused intentionally, by negligence, or even by lightning and other natural causes.
Forest fire scar
Plot of land in which the vegetation was totally or partially eliminated by the action of fire.
Forest Management Plan
Technical planning process that allows a non-destructive use of native or planted forests.
Gross deforestation
Amount of native vegetation that was removed from a given area, without discounting its natural or induced regeneration.
History of Deforestation
Series of deforestation rates recorded over time by official and unofficial satellite monitoring systems.
Land grabbing
Illegal occupation of public lands through document falsification.
Native vegetation
All the flora that naturally occupies the different biomes of the country according to their soil types, climate, biodiversity and water availability.
Natural ecosystem
Terrestrial or aquatic environment in which there is an interaction between living beings and non-living elements.
Natural forest
Area covered by trees and other forms of native vegetation whose environment is shared with a biodiversity adapted to those natural conditions.
Net deforestation
The amount of native vegetation that was totally or partially eliminated in a given area after natural regeneration is discounted.
Pioneer Vegetation
Native or exotic plants that first occupy open areas whose previous vegetation was suppressed or degraded (or even in natural clearings).
Planted Forest
Areas where trees were intentionally cultivated for the production of wood and other forest products or even for the purpose of restoring native vegetation.
Primary sources of alert generation
Satellite monitoring systems that generate raw and initial information regarding the alteration of native vegetation.
Primary vegetation
Flora of a certain region with low to no human interference.
Protected Area
Regions protected by environmental legislation on land, freshwater, and marine waters.
Rate of deforestation󠄀
Rate at which an area or quantity of trees and other types of native vegetation are removed in a given period.
Regeneration of native vegetation
Regeneration occurs when native vegetation spontaneously returns to a deforested or degraded area.
Restoration of native vegetation
Restoration happens through the planting of species for the recovery of native vegetation in a given space where the flora has been suppressed or degraded.
Secondary vegetation
The flora that occupies, in a natural or stimulated way, a physical-ecological space that has been previously deforested, converted or degraded.
Selective cutting
Partial removal of vegetation from a given space.
Stereo cubic meter
Measure used for stacking non-uniform wood.
Tipping point
A certain limit or situation that, when reached, would no longer allow a return to the previous situation or state.
Windrow
A way to prepare the soil for cultivation or to organize vegetation or wood for storage or burning.
Zero net deforestation
Zero net deforestation occurs when deforestation is compensated by the restoration or regeneration of native vegetation in another area.
Deforestation and conservation in Brazilian legislation
Embargoed areas
Regions that suffered environmental damage and are under administrative sanction applied by one or more environmental agencies until their recovery.
Notice of Violation
Measure taken by environmental inspectors in relation to a possible crime against natural heritage committed by individuals or legal entities.
Territorial focuses
Biomes
Natural regions of the country where certain types of animals, plants and climate are dominant.
Conservation Unit
Conservation Units are territories dedicated to the maintenance of ecosystems and natural resources for society as a whole, with delimitation, management, and protection by public authorities.
Indigenous Land
Union territories recognized and delimited by the federal government for the maintenance of the indigenous ways of life and culture throughout the country.
Legal Amazon
A region that occupies almost half of all Brazilian territory, covering 9 states and an area larger than the Amazon biome itself.
Legal Reserve
Part of rural properties in which native vegetation cannot be felled, the percentage of which varies according to each biome.
Permanent Conservation Area
An area that may or may not be covered by native vegetation designated for the preservation of water, landscapes, ecological balance, soils, and human well-being.
Rural Property
Improvements on a delimited piece of land in rural areas across the country.
Rural settlement
A set of properties in a rural area delimited by the federal or state government for agrarian reform purposes.
Untitled land
Public land that has never officially belonged to a private owner or possessor and that was never given an official status by the government.