Legal Reserve
Part of rural properties in which native vegetation cannot be felled, the percentage of which varies according to each biome.
Federal forest legislation defines Legal Reserves as a percentage of rural properties’ land that must maintain native vegetation capable of sustainable forest management. Any economic use must be compatible with the maintenance and recovery of ecological services such as the conservation of biodiversity, springs, and watercourses. Like Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), they are an instrument provided for in federal law since the 1930s. The percentage of properties’ land that must be designated as Legal Reserves varies according to the region where a given rural property is located: 80% in the Amazon, 35% in the transition between the Amazon and the Cerrado, and 20% in all other biomes. Legal Reserves are seen by big agriculture as an interference by the State in private properties, and thus are the target of legislative projects proposing its extinction. Such a measure would strongly increase deforestation rates in the country.
Synonyms:
mandatory forest reserve, mandatory native vegetation reserve.
See also:
https://snif.florestal.gov.br/pt-br/conservacao-das-florestass/184-reserva-legal
https://www.embrapa.br/codigo-florestal/area-de-reserva-legal-arl
https://www.oeco.org.br/dicionario-ambiental/27492-o-que-e-reserva-legal/