Law No. 11,284, Public Forest Management Law, establishes that public areas classified as National Forests and State Forests may be eligible for Reduced Impact Forestry through public bidding for the establishment of contracts with qualified companies. This law also created the Brazilian Forest Service, which is the federal agency responsible for establishing and monitoring federal concessions.
Neocert considers forest concessions an important strategy for the regulated and sustainable use of the Forest. In order to be able to contribute to the continuous improvement of the socio-environmental performance of concessionary companies, in 2022 it obtained authorization from INMETRO to act as a forest audit body (OCF-008) in IFAs in federal and state concessions.
Currently, there are eight national forests that have forest concession contracts with 11 forest management companies, totaling approximately 1 million and 200 thousand hectares of managed forests.
The contracts established between the company and the public agency have several clauses that bring legal, administrative, social and environmental obligations that must be fulfilled by the concessionaire and are monitored by the Brazilian Forest Service. The contract also establishes the amounts that must be paid for logging to public bodies and the amounts that must be invested in local communities.
If you are interested in knowing more about the Independent Forestry Audit process, contact Neocert and receive more information.
More about the Amazon rainforest…
The Amazon is one of humanity’s greatest riches. With approximately 4,196,943 million km2 of forest (Instituto Brasileiro de Florestas) in Brazil alone, it is the largest biome on the planet and covers eight other countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela) – being that 26% of its protected area is in Brazilian territory.
This grandeur harbors an exuberant biodiversity of fauna and flora and provides important ecosystem services for life on the planet, such as climate regulation in other regions of Brazil and the world. Not to mention the amount of biological assets not yet known, which can be used for the production of drugs and cosmetics.
The Amazon is also home to traditional communities and indigenous populations that historically live in the forest and derive their food security from it. The way of life of these populations contributes to the protection of the Amazon: several studies show that territories occupied by traditional communities have a lower rate of deforestation when compared to the areas bordering these territories.
Low-impact forest management in public and private areas is also an important agent for combating deforestation and maintaining biodiversity. The purpose of forest management is to ensure that forests continuously provide economic, ecological and social benefits, through the planning of exploitation and the application of techniques that will reduce damage to the remaining forest.
For a good management, in addition to the application of impact reduction techniques, the cycle and authorized cutting intensity must be respected. In other words, only a small amount of trees suitable for cutting will be exploited per hectare, keeping the forest standing and productive over time.