CONAMA RESOLUTION 294, December 12, 2001
Published in Official Gazette 35 on Feb. 21, 2002, Section 1, pages 142-144
Establishes provisions for the Management Plan for the Euterpe adulis Palmito in the Santa Catarina State.
THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL – CONAMA, in accordance with the power bestowed upon the Council by art. 6, item II and art. 8, item VII of Law 6.938 from August 31, 1981, regulated by Decree 99.274 from June 6, 1990, and considering the provisions of Law 4.771 from Sept. 15, 1965 and Decree 750 from Feb. 10, 1993 and CONAMA Resolutions 1 from Jan. 23, 1986, 10 from Oct. 1, 1993, 4 from May 4, 1994 and 237 from Dec. 19, 1997 and the provisions of its Internal Regulations, and
Considering the need to regulate the exploitation of Santa Catarina State native vegetal species in areas covered with primary or secondary vegetation in advanced and medium stages of regeneration, decides:
Art. 1 The exploitation of the palmito Euterpe edulis within native forests of the Santa Catarina State will only be authorized as selective logging according to sustainable forestry management methods established by this Resolution.
Single paragraph. Sustainable forestry management is understood as the administration of the forest in order to obtain economic and social benefits while respecting management practices.
Art. 2 The sustainable forestry management operations that are the subject of the previous paragraph can be authorized through the presentation by the proprietor of a Sustainable Forestry Exploitation Plan(PMFS) to the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) according to the following general principles and technical elements:
I- general principles:
a) natural resource conservation;
b) conservation of forest structure and functions;
c) upholding of biological diversity; and
d) regional socio-economic development.
II- technical elements:
a) solid survey of available resources in order to safeguard the reliability of pertinent information;
b) characterization of the structure and forest location;
c) identification, analysis and control of environmental impacts according to pertinent legislation;
d) economic-technical viability and analysis of social consequences;
e) forestry exploitation methods that minimize ecosystem damage;
f) existent of stock resources from forest remains that can safeguard sustainable production;
g) upholding of forestry resource population levels in order to safeguard the protecting function of the flora
and fauna that are threatened with extinction;
h) establishment of annual maximum harvest areas and upholding of the cutting cycle of managed species;
i) adoption of adequate forestry exploitation systems; and
j) use of proper planting techniques whenever necessary.
Art. 3 Apart from the general principles and technical elements established in art. 2 of this Resolution the Sustainable Forestry Exploitation Plan(PMFS) related to the exploitation of the Palmito Euterpe edulis must be undertaken according to the following criteria:
I – limited exploitation of individuals with medium DAP equal or above 9 centimeters;
II – provide a seedling bank containing a minimum of tem thousand individuals per hectare and implement th e yearly plantation of seedlings or seeds if the natural regeneration process presents any kind of defects;
III – uphold a minimum of fifty fruit bearing Palmito per hectare identified and dispersedly distributed throughout the exploitation area in order to safeguard the stock of matrix plants or seed bearing plants and thereby uphold the forest’s function as a protector of the fauna threatened with extinction.
Single paragraph. It is considered natural palmito regeneration, for all purposes of this Resolution, plants that have a height that exposes the stipe, less than one meter and thirty centimeters.
Art. 4 Sustainable forestry management in properties with an area of less than thirty hectare of forests may be allowed after a formal authorization request to IBAMA by the proprietor through the form Selective Logging Request (RCS) included in Annex I and will not require the presentation of a PMFS while abiding by the criteria established in art. 3 of this Resolution and its respective paragraphs.
Art. 5 In cases when the license request does not exceed two thousand individuals per year in an area of up to fifteen hectare of forests, by property, the authorization request may be made through a Simple Request 276(SS) based on a survey and the authorization of the competent licensing organ that is forwarded to IBAMA, while abiding by the criteria of items I, II and III of art. 3 of this Resolution.
Single paragraph. The authorization that is the subject of this article will be granted for a maximum exploitation period of six months that can be extended by thirty days.
Art. 6 Cases related to the logging of planted palmito, duly proved through IBAMA registration and posterior inspection, must apply directly to IBAMA according to the application guide provided in Annex IV.
Single paragraph. The license that is the subject of this article is directly and specifically related to palmito and does not allow for the logging/cutting of other species, thinning or shepherding within the area.
Art. 7 The PMFS, RCS and SS will only be authorized within properties that comply with current environmental legislation and in particular with the conservation of permanent preservation areas (APP:s) and the registration and recuperation of Legal Reserves.
§ 1 Non-compliance with the conditions and obligations foreseen in this Resolution, as well as with license conditions, implies, with no exception, the suspension of all issued licenses for the same property or proprietor.
§ 2 Applicants may sign a Conduct Adjustment Agreement with the competent environmental organ aimed at proving compliance with environmental legislation obligations and in particular the conservation of Permanent Preservation Areas (APP:s) and the registration and recuperation of Legal Reserves, in this hypothesis the licenses will be linked to compliance with these conditions.
§ 3 The PMFS license is conditioned to the presentation by the applicant of a document issues by the competent organ attesting the protection and preservation of the Permanent Preservation Area within the given property.
Art. 8 In order to comply with the provisions of this Resolution the PMFS must abide by the Basic Guidelines included in Annex II.
Art. 9 The PMFS, RCS and the report for the SS must be created and executed by a legally registered, IBAMA certified professional and according to pertinent regulations.
Art. 10. The licenses for the undertaking of PMFS and RCS, as well as the deferment of the SS, are control tools that allow for the substantiation of the origin of the forestry raw-materials.
§ 1 The License for the Transportation of Forestry Products (ATPF) will be granted to holders of PMFS, RCS or SS when he/she is the recipient of the forestry raw-materials or to the buyer that is duly registered by IBAMA, through the presentation of a Forestry Products Sale Statement (DVPF) according to IBAMA’s Administrative Order 125-N from Nov. 22, 1993.
§ 2 The ATPF will be issued after the delivery of the Exploitation License and is conditioned to the filling of fields 1 to 8 and 14 to 16 of the Statement that is mentioned in the heading of this article.
Art. 11. Both RCS and SS, or the information regarding planting, may be authorized by competent state or municipal organs as long as they possess an adequate professional structure that allows for the analysis of the subject matter and Municipal Environment Councils with decision powers and SISNAMA membership, according to pertinent regulations.
Single paragraph. State or municipal organs must inform IBAMA on the issuing of licenses that are the subject of the heading of this article and request the issuing of ATPF according to pertinent regulations.
Art. 12. The granting of PMFSs must take into consideration the forest production capacity.
§ 1 When the total exploitation area is above fifty hectare the same must be divided in dimensioned modules according to the logging/cutting cycle of the managed species, which must be a part of the physical execution schedule.
§ 2 The licenses will be granted on a module by module basis.
Art. 13. It is mandatory to undertake a pre-exploitation forestry continuous inventory, in permanent allotments demarcated through a systematic sample process, according to uniform magnetic orientation that identifies its borders and include access paths that will allow for professional inspections and those located in APP:s must be substituted, both in relation to PMFS and RCS.
§ 1 The establishment of permanent allotments of continuous forestry inventory for PMFS purposes or for RCS surveys must take into account the intensity, form and size of the objectives and the used methodology must be described and justified.
§ 2 Permanent allotments must be measured and assessed before and immediately after
exploitation and within a period that does not surpass one year, and include yearly re-measuring.
§ 3 Sub-allotments must be established within the permanent allotments in order to allow for the surveying of natural regeneration, whose intensity, form and size must meet the objectives stated in the PMFS and the used methodology must be described and justified.
§ 4 Statistical surveys must take into account the error-rate of twenty percent and the failure rate of five percent.
Art. 14. The validity periods of licenses that are the subject of the Resolution will be set according to exploitation volumes, may be extended by equal periods and as often as necessary.
Single paragraph. The license renewal that is the subject of the heading of this article may be requested through the presentation of pertinent justifications and accompanied by the Professional Report on the respective exploitation.
Art. 15. Once a PMFS or RCS exploitation stage of a given area is finalized a new stage of exploitation can only be allowed after the presentation of proof that the entire initial stocks have been replaced and this option is not applicable to stocks that are still in the recuperation stage.
Single paragraph. The professional proof related to the full recuperation of stocks that is the subject of the heading of this article must be presented to IBAMA and include the results of the survey and assessment of allotments and sub-allotments during the PMFS or RCS periods.
Art. 16. IBAMA is responsible for PMFS or RCS inspections aimed at the fulfillment of the provisions contained in this Resolution.
Single paragraph. IBAMA must, in case of verified irregularities or illegal activities:
I – undertake due-diligence and applicable sanctions;
II – promote civil action and, when applicable, inform the Federal Public Ministry and request the introduction of a civil and penal inquiry; and
III – officially inform the competent professional inspection organ that employs the inspection professional, in order to assess his /her professional responsibility.
Art. 17. The IBAMA responsibilities stated in articles 15, 16 and 18 of this Resolution may be delegated to organs that are mentioned in art. 11 as long as they are SISNAMA members and possess adequate professional structures according to pertinent regulations.
Art. 18. Infringements related to the provisions set by this Resolution will subject the offender to applicable legislative sanctions independently of the obligation to compensate and repair for caused damages.
Art. 19. Omitted cases will be settled by IBAMA in consultation with the Technical Chamber that deals with the subject matter.
Art. 20. Operational questions related to the provisions set by this Resolution must be complemented though inter-institutional regulations that involve both IBAMA and competent state and municipal organs.
Art. 21. This Resolution shall enter into effect on the date of its publication and is applicable to registered license requests and to those already granted by IBAMA up to that date, which must be re-formulated when necessary within a period set by the competent authority, in order to adapt them to the provisions set by this Resolution.
JOSÉ CARLOS CARVALHO – Acting Council President
ANNEX I – SELECTIVE LOGGING/CUTTING APPLICATION – RCS
ANNEX II – BASIC GUIDELINES FOR THE CREATION OF A SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY EXPLOITATION PLAN- PMFS
ANNEX III – SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION FOR PALMITO (EUTERPE EDULIS) EXPLOITATION
ANNEX IV – NOTIFICATION RELATED TO THE EXPLOITATION OF PLANTED PALMITO (EUTERPE EDULIS)
ANNEX V – LETTER OF AGREEMENT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF EXPLOITED FOREST AREAS – TRMFM