Pagamento por serviços ambientais para conservação de áreas protegidas particulares

Abstract

Environmental Service Payment (Pagamento por Serviço Ambiental - PSA) is addressed to meet the need of conciliating rural property economic interests and environment conservation, according to the new environment laws. Since Law n. 4771/1965 established the Forestry Code, Brazil uses the natural resources’ Legal Reserves and Permanent Preservation Areas (Área de Preservação Permanente- APP) as mechanisms to help maintaining private protected areas preserved. As provided in the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, rural property exploration is subjected to socio-environmental liabilities in order to assure the preservation of natural resources and maintain ideal environmental conditions in behalf of the society interests. The Environmental Service Payment, in force both at Federal and State levels, seeks the conciliation between the producer private interest and the environment quality social interests. Law n. 12651/2012, which changed the Forestry Code, provides economic tools addressed to encourage rural property owners to maintain protected areas within their private properties through increasing the natural resources value. In the State of Paraná, Law n. 17134/2012 established the Environmental Service Payment. The aforementioned laws need rules, regulations and operation tools to be effectively implemented. The present work aims at checking the Environmental Service Payment possibilities and limitations concerning private protected area conservation in the State of Paraná through carrying out a bibliographic review and analyzing the environment protection policies, besides interviewing technicians who work with such policies. Our work objective is also to suggest mechanisms able to effectively encourage rural producers to maintain and protect natural areas, as well as to arouse the environmental user interest by establishing legal behaviors and rules.