Stakeholder workshop analyses the Strategic Plan for Implementation of the Brazilian Forest Code (PlanaFlor)
The project PlanaFlor, which draws a strategic plan for the implementation of the Brazilian Forest Code, held the first of a series of workshops with stakeholders last week, 6 July, in São Paulo, Brazil, to assess the draft of the strategy that aims to accelerate the law’s roll-out in the coming years. The purpose of the meeting was to hear civil society representatives, including researchers and environmental leaders, for contributions to the planning and preparation of the final document, which will be presented to the candidates for the Brazilian Presidency and state governments at the end of August this year.
The opening session was led by the Director of the Brazilian Foundation for Sustainable Development (FBDS), Walfredo Schindler, who stressed the importance of the participation of the entities present there to improve the strategy. The Chairman of PlanaFlor’s Advisory Board, Joaquim Levy, highlighted the team’s effort in designing a model that will have a direct impact on reforestation, restoration of degraded areas, microclimate and the generation of employment and income for the people. “Behind this proposition, there is groundbreaking development on the productive use of land and soil recovery. The plan will have targets and we will present its direct cost,” said Levy.
BVRio Project Manager, Marcelo Hercowitz, outlined PlanaFlor’s goals and the stages of the project, lasting until 2025. “All of the eight objectives have targets and indicators that will be monitored to demonstrate the overall economic, social and environmental impacts achieved,” he said.
The World Café methodology was used for the group dynamics to create a living network of collaborative dialogue, and the ‘Open Space’ method to categorise the plan’s actions, a technique that allows the participants to create and manage the agenda themselves. “In the first dynamic, we held four discussion rounds among the participants and then we went deeper with them pointing out which actions were essential, important or non-essential”, commented Sandra Quinteiro, facilitator of San Quinteiro Human and Organisational Development.
About PlanaFlor
PlanaFlor is a set of strategic guidelines, organised in the form of a national strategic plan for sustainable development, designed to recognise, value and promote environmental, economic and social assets from the effective implementation of the Forest Code. With a team of experts and an Advisory Board of highly qualified members, PlanaFlor started its activities in 2021 with a broad diagnosis of the challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the Forest Code. The project is carried out by a partnership between BVRio, Conservation Strategy Fund-Brazil, Brazilian Foundation for Sustainable Development and Getúlio Vargas Foundation, including expert consultants in different areas. It is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) which has signed agreements with 39 organisations as part of Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) for the period 2021-2025. PlanaFlor is one of the beneficiary projects.
About the Brazilian Forest Code
The “New Brazilian Forest Code” (Federal Law 12.651, 2012) is one of the most relevant environmental public policy instruments today. The Law was adopted after a long process of political debate, with the results being the outcome of the possible understanding between the various sectors involved. The implementation of this law has the potential to generate a significant improvement in governance related to land use, with substantial contributions to biodiversity conservation and carbon storage, placing the Brazilian rural sector at the global forefront of sustainability. If fully implemented, the Forest Code has the potential to conserve over 150 million hectares of native vegetation in Brazil, sequestering around 100 GtCO2e.