Governance & Policy
Brazil Forest Code
Definition
The Brazilian Forest Code, reformed by Law No. 12.651 of 2012, governs native vegetation on private rural land. It requires properties to maintain a Legal Reserve of native vegetation — up to eighty percent in the Amazon biome — protects permanent preservation areas such as riverbanks and hilltops, and operates the rural environmental registry (CAR) that maps compliance property by property.
References
Legal text, Legal Reserve and CAR
Global biodiversity-policy context
Overview
What it means
Conservation in Brazil runs largely through obligations on private farms, making the code central to Amazon deforestation debates and zero-deforestation supply-chain commitments.
How it is used
Farmers register properties in the CAR; meatpackers and traders check suppliers against it; enforcement agencies and courts dispute amnesty and restoration provisions.
Why it matters
The code is the single most consequential law for the world's largest tropical forest and for the commodity supply chains linked to it.