Global change is substantially led by greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions (Ruddiman, 2013). In Brazil, the largest emission rates come from the forestry & land-use change sector, which historically accounts for more than half of Brazil’s emissions (SEEG, 2016a). Within the Legal Amazon, deforestation is the main driver of land-use change (TerraClass, 2014). Furthermore, Amazon-based settlements, established by Brazil’s Land Reform, play an important role in this process, as 28.6% of all Amazon deforestation stemmed from this type of land property in 2016 alone (Azevedo et al, 2016). Even though public policies aim at curbing this source of land-clearing, they often fail to achieve this goal. Hence, this thesis will analyse why policies do not efficiently prevent clear-cutting in Amazon-based settlements. This analysis is done through a multilevel comparison between political priorities and local perceptions on deforestation. The inquiry relies on text analysis to assess the Land Reform as a land-use policy and the Forest Code as a deforestation policy. It further summarizes the impressions of local family farmers collected in the fieldwork. Then it compares both results to understand why policies fail to fully curb deforestation. The main conclusion is that policies fail because they are erratic, they do not sufficiently take into account the social aspects of deforestation and they do not promote resilience in local communities. The geographical scope of the case-study is western Pará state, in which 30.8% of all deforestation occur in Amazon-based settlements (Ibidem). It is in Pará where the case-study takes place, namely the PAS Project carried out by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute. The main contribution of this thesis is to adopt a socio-ecological systems approach to compare policy priorities to local case-study results and to emphasize the interlinkages between income-generation and land-clearing.

La forêt ivoirienne connait une dégradation très avancée. Pour la préserver, la Côte d’Ivoire a élaboré la loi n° 65-425 du 20 Décembre 1965 portant code forestier et ses textes d’application. Mais ce premier instrument juridique de protection n’a pas eu l’efficacité escomptée. En effet, de portée sectorielle, la loi forestière ne peut régir tout le domaine forestier. D’autres légalisations sectorielles telles la loi de 1965 sur la chasse, le code de l’eau, la loi de 1998 sur le droit foncier rural devront intervenir pour combler le déficit législatif du code forestier. Il en résulte une législation relative à la forêt et ses ressources non coordonnée et non intégrée dont les conséquences sont les risques évidents de chevauchements de compétence, sources de conflits et de blocage et les doubles emplois. Pour assurer un cadre juridique idoine à la protection de la forêt ivoirienne, cette intégration juridique doit pouvoir prendre en compte toutes les dimensions sociopolitiques et conomiques des forêts, assurer la participation de tous les acteurs, permettre l’intégration du contenu des textes et requérir unecoopération des structures de gestion / The Ivorian forest is facing advanced degradation. To preserve it, Côte d’Ivoire has drafted Law No. 65 - 425 dated 20 december 1965 on the Forest Code and its implementing regulations. But first legal instrument of protection was not as effective as expected. Indeed, sectoral scope , forest law can govern the entire forest area. Other sectoral legalization as the 1965 Law on hunting, the Water Code, the 1998 Law on rural land law will step in to fill the legislative gap in the forestry code. The result is a law on the forest and its uncoordinated and non-integrated resources, the consequences are obvious risks of overlapping jurisdiction, sources of conflict and blocking and duplication. To ensure appropriate legal framework for the protection of the Ivorian forest, this legal integration must take into account all socio-political and economic dimensions of forests, ensuring the participation of all stakeholders, allow the integration of text content and require a cooperation of management structures

Faced with the degradation of natural resources, the discussions about environmental issues towards the search for sustainability become common. Thus, the study of forest fragments is important regarding the maintenance of biodiversity. This study aimed to propose, systemically, mechanisms that may contribute to the protection of forest remnants located in the hydrographic basin of the Poxim River. Therefore, it was necessary to characterize the forest fragments from the point of view of landscape studies and also to survey the existing riparian vegetation in the hydrographic basin of the Poxim River in accordance with current legislation, to propose actions of vegetation restoration. In order to survey the use and occupation of the Poxim River hydrographic basin, it was used aerial photographs corresponding to the year 2004, UTM zone 24 South Datum SAD-69 projection, with the help of the program ARCGIS 9.2 on display scale of 1:10,000. Similarly, there was a survey of forest fragments of atlantic forest about the size, shape, and connectivity to the vicinity of these fragments, but it was also possible to do a survey of riparian forest in the hydrographic basin of the Poxim River. It was observed that pasture (40.54%) and agricultural crops (15.63%) occupy the largest areas in the hydrographic basin of the Poxim River and those are the main activities that impact the neighboring fragments. Related to the fragments, 92.71% have an average size of 18.58 hectares and circularity index of 0.34. As to connectivity, most of the fragments (26.53%) are over 900 meters away to the nearest forest patch. In the hydrographic basin there is only 01 registered reservation with 198.84 hectares, demonstrating the failure of the Brazilian Forest Code (1965). The riparian forest in the hydrographic basin corresponds to 7.01%, in which less than half of the total (46.22%) is in accordance with the Brazilian Forest Code (1965) which stipulates a minimum of 30 meters width of riparian vegetation. It becomes necessary to adopt public policies aimed at the protection of forest fragments and restoration of permanent preservation areas, forming ecological corridors allied to planning and management of water resources. / Diante da degradação dos recursos naturais, tornam-se comuns os debates a respeito das questões ambientais no sentido da busca pela sustentabilidade. Dessa forma, o estudo dos fragmentos florestais são importantes no que se refere à manutenção da biodiversidade. Este trabalho teve como objetivo propor, de forma sistêmica, mecanismos que venham contribuir para a proteção dos remanescentes florestais localizados na bacia hidrográfica do rio Poxim-SE. Para isso, foi necessário caracterizar os fragmentos florestais sob a ótica do estudo da paisagem; realizar o levantamento da mata ciliar existente na bacia hidrográfica do rio Poxim, de acordo com a legislação vigente, no sentido de propor ações de restauração da vegetação. Para o levantamento do uso e cobertura do solo da bacia hidrográfica do rio Poxim, utilizou-se de fotografias aéreas correspondentes ao ano de 2004, tendo projeção UTM, Zona 24 Sul e Datum SAD-69, com o auxílio do programa ARCGIS 9.2 na escala de visualização de 1:10.000. Do mesmo modo, realizou-se o levantamento dos fragmentos florestais de mata atlântica com relação ao tamanho, à forma, à conectividade e à vizinhança desses fragmentos, como também, foi possível fazer um levantamento da mata ciliar da bacia hidrográfica do rio Poxim. Observou-se que a pastagem (40,54%) e os cultivos agrícolas (15,63%) ocupam as maiores áreas na bacia hidrográfica do rio Poxim, sendo as principais atividades que impactam os fragmentos vizinhos. Com relação aos fragmentos, 92,71% possuem tamanho médio de 18,58 hectares e índice de circularidade de 0,34. Quanto à conectividade, a maioria dos fragmentos (26,53%) está com a distância superior a 900 metros em relação ao fragmento florestal mais próximo. Na bacia hidrográfica há apenas 01 reserva legal averbada com 198,84 hectares, demonstrando o descumprimento do Código Florestal Brasileiro (1965). A mata ciliar na bacia hidrográfica corresponde a 7,01%, deste, menos da metade (46,22%) está em conformidade com o Código Florestal Brasileiro (1965) que estipula uma largura mínima de 30 metros de mata ciliar. Torna-se necessária a adoção de políticas públicas visando à proteção dos fragmentos florestais e restauração das áreas de preservação permanente, formando corredores ecológicos aliados ao planejamento e gestão dos recursos hídricos.

This PhD dissertation represents an effort to understand individual behavior leading to decisions regarding natural resource use and compliance with conservation policy at the government and at the community levels through the analysis of specific cases in the Brazilian Amazon. I first analyze the case of smallholder land clearing along the Transamazon and BR-163 highways in the face of Brazilian Forest Code enforcement by the federal government. My hypothesis is that smallholder land clearing paths over time are affected by assessments of the probability of being caught violating the Forest Code. I develop a dynamic decision model that considers the potential benefits and costs accrued from land clearing through time by a representative smallholder and include her perception of the probability of Forest Code enforcement, unobserved to the researcher. I apply an endogenous switching regressions econometric model to data collected with a sample of 542 households in 2003 and 2013/14. I find that longer land tenure frontiers where there are opportunities for smallholders to transition to cattle grazing from agriculture deserve the attention of enforcement of land clearing laws and restrictions and that the use of the forest by a smallholder is a protective signal that must be considered and encouraged. My results suggest that alleged government efforts to enforce the Forest Code among smallholders in the sample region have been ineffective. The second case I analyze is that of fisher households that enforce community fishing agreements, known as accords, in the floodplains of the Amazon River surrounding the city of Santarém. My hypothesis is that individual households benefit from their own fishing accords enforcement effort through fishing time savings. A factor demand analysis applied to data collected with over 600 households reveals that statistically important drivers of labor demand and fuel include the level of dedication of a household and its history in implementing fishing accords, the landscape, the flood cycle, the distance to the main regional market and biomass. The average household fishing time savings from enforcing accords range between 59 and 36 eight-hour days for a six-month-period, an important argument for continuing the enterprise. / PHD

Brazil reduced its annual deforested area from 27772 km2 to 4571 km2 from 2004 to 2012. This phenomenal achievement resulted from multiple government initiatives, most notably the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). However, these ambitious deforestation control policies yield multiple spillover effects. This dissertation examines the effects of the two initiatives from the PPCDAm program, namely the Forest Code of 2012 and the Green Municipality Program. The first chapter provides causal evidence that land registration abates conflicts in Pará. The chapter discusses policy implications in three discussions, prospective deforestation control, potential agricultural growth, and livelihoods promotion within CAR and its related policies. The results from this chapter provoke a question about the drop in land conflicts that stimulates forest conservation on private landholdings. Thereon, my second chapter deals with the dynamic land clearing decision of private landholders in the Brazilian Amazon. The results suggest that the persistence of compliance, thus forest conservation on privately held land, is driven mainly by past compliance and municipality-level incentives. As these two chapters established that land registration abates conflicts, and private landholders are driven by specific incentives to preserve the forest on their land. My third chapter investigates the impact of the provincial governance promotion program on secondary forest recovery. Municipalities participating in the local government improvement program steadily observe an expansion in secondary forest areas. To sum up, my dissertation explores the spillover effects of the deforestation control policy, starting with achieving fewer land conflicts and investigating the local incentives to promote forest protection on private land. Lastly, I provide evidence that the governance promotion program will result in secondary forest recovery. / Doctor of Philosophy / Brazil reduced its annual deforested area from 27772 km2 to 4571 km2 from 2004 to 2012. This phenomenal achievement resulted from multiple government initiatives, most notably the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (PPCDAm). This dissertation presents the unintended consequences of two policies under PPCDAm, namely the Forest Code of 2012 and the Green Municipality Program, on land conflicts, environmental policy compliance, and secondary forest recovery. The first chapter provides robust evidence that perceived land tenure security (via land registration) effectively reduces land conflicts. Further, the chapter invokes if the drop in land conflicts stimulates forest conservation on private landholdings. Subsequently, my second chapter deals with the dynamic land clearing decision of private landholders in the Brazilian Amazon. The results suggest that the persistence of compliance, thus forest conservation on privately held land, is driven mainly by past compliance and municipality-level incentives. As these two chapters established that land registration abates conflicts, and private landholders are driven by specific incentives to preserve the forest on their land. My third chapter investigates the impact of the provincial governance promotion program on secondary forest recovery. Municipalities participating in the local government improvement program steadily observe an expansion in secondary forest areas. In summary, the dissertation begins with a study of the unintended consequences of the deforestation control policy, starting with achieving fewer land conflicts. Then, I present a study of the local incentives to promote forest protection on private land. Lastly, I present that the local governance promotion program will result in secondary forest recovery.

O novo Código Florestal (Lei 12.651 de 2012) tramitou por quase 13 anos no Congresso Nacional e obteve grande repercussão social. A maior parte do processo foi caracterizada como vitória da bancada ruralista e derrota governamental, em um momento no qual o Executivo possuía maioria legislativa. Entretanto, o conflito não se deu com a variável oposição e governo, mas entre coalizões rurais e ambientais. Este trabalho busca apontar quais recursos utilizados pelas coalizões foram determinantes no resultado da política. Para isso foi analisada a fase inicial da tramitação da matéria na Câmara dos Deputados, ou seja, o período desde a instalação da comissão especial até a aprovação no Plenário da Casa. As audiências públicas e o parecer da comissão revelaram quais são os interesses em jogo e como eles se organizaram para o conflito. A literatura norte-americana sobre formação de agenda e comportamento legislativo subsidiou a compreensão da atuação das lideranças entendidas como os parlamentares que coordenaram os trabalhos das coalizões. Após apontar os principais recursos utilizados por elas, demonstra-se o quanto algumas estratégias foram determinantes no resultado da política. Constatou-se que a definição de uma proposta politicamente viável pelos representantes da agricultura foi determinante na capacidade de construção e mobilização dessa coalizão. Além disso, considerando que o processo decisório também se tornou objeto de conflito, os procedimentos de discussão e votação da matéria foram escolhidos pelas lideranças não apenas para defender a proposta, mas também para facilitar a obtenção de recompensa eleitoral. / The new Forest Code took almost 13 years in National Congress and had considerable social impact. Most of the process was characterized as a rural victory and governmental defeat, at a time when the Executive held legislative majority. However, the conflict could not be explained by the variable opposition and government, but by rural and environmental coalitions. This work seeks to appoint what coalition resources were determinant in the policy outcome. The first phase of the legislative process in the House of Representatives were analyzed - from the installation of the special committee until the approval on the House floor. The hearings and the committee report described the interests involved and how they organized themselves. The American literature about agenda setting and legislative behavior supported the evaluation about leader\'s action understood as legislators who coordinated the coalition\'s work. After pointing out the key resources used by them, it is shown how some strategies were decisive in the outcome of the policy. It was found that the definition of a politically viable proposal by representatives of agriculture activities was crucial to the capacity of building this coalition. Moreover, considering that the decision-making process also became object of dispute, the procedures for discussion and vote were chosen by the leadership not only to defend the proposal, but also to facilitate the achievement of electoral recompense.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar o cenário e os processos políticos que culminaram com a alteração do antigo Código Florestal Brasileiro (Lei Federal nº 4.771/1965), revogado pela Lei Federal nº 12.651/2012. Busca-se identificar quais foram os fatores que levaram a essa alteração, os principais atores e grupos de interesse que atuaram nas coalizões denominadas de ambientalistas e ruralistas, bem como os argumentos e recursos de poder empregados. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que prevaleceram os interesses privados, em especial dos grupos de interesse do agronegócio, em relação aos interesses da coletividade e que dizem respeito à conservação ambiental. Foram utilizados como ponto de partida metodológica os modelos de Laswell (1936) para entender \"quem ganha o que, porquê e que diferença isso faz\", de coalizões de defesa de Sabatier (1988) e de múltiplos fluxos de Kingdon (2007), bem como o ciclo e as dimensões das políticas públicas de Frey (2000). Para a análise foram utilizados documentos jurídicos, estudos científicos, manifestos públicos, matérias da mídia e postagens nas redes sociais, além de entrevistas semiabertas. Evidenciouse que a atuação da bancada ruralista foi imprescindível na alteração da lei e que esta priorizou interesses privados, em especial dos setores produtivos agropecuários, em detrimento aos interesses públicos e coletivos. O estudo mostra ainda que a polarização entre as coalizões ambientalistas e ruralistas silenciou outros conflitos socioambientais que são recorrentes nos espaços públicos brasileiros. Também foi possível verificar que, embora a questão ambiental tenha se popularizado, ganhando espaço nas agendas governamentais, quando não é tratada de maneira utilitarista, há prevalência de um discurso em que o meio ambiente parece ser uma externalidade e até mesmo um empecilho para o desenvolvimento econômico do país. / This work seeks to analyze the context and the political processes that had led to the alteration from the old Brazilian Forest Code, (Federal Law nº 4.771/1965), repealed by Federal Law No. 12,651 / 2012. The aim is to appoint what were the factors that had led to this alteration, the main actors and the interest groups that had worked in coalitions known as environmentalists and ruralists, as well as arguments and power resources. Our initial assumption was that private interests prevailed. The methodological starting point utilized was the models of Laswell (1936) used to understand \"Who gets what\'s, why and what different it makes\", Sabatier´s advocacy coalitions approach (1988) and Kingdon\'s multiple stream model (2007), as well as the cycle and dimensions of public policy by Frey (2000). Documents, scientific studies, public manifests, media materials and posts on social network and interviews have been used in this analysis. The action of the rural caucus was vital on the alteration of the law, prioritizing. Agricultural Productive Sectors interests became evident. The study still shows that the polarization between environmental and rural caucus silenced other socio-environmental conflicts which are common in the Brazilian public spaces. It was also possible to observe that, although the environmental issue had been popularized, receiving attention in governmental agendas, there is still a prevalence of a speech in which the environment seems to be an externality and even a hindrance to economic development.

O Novo Código Florestal brasileiro se tornou em 25 de maio de 2012 o principal conjunto normativo ambiental instituído pela Lei n° 12.651/2012, que regulamenta a exploração, conservação e recuperação da vegetação nativa em nível nacional. Contudo tal legislação enfrenta Ações Diretas de Inconstitucionalidade (ADIs), as quais apontam prejuízos ambientais por causa da flexibilidade das novas regras relacionadas às áreas de preservação permanente, à redução da reserva legal e também à anistia para àqueles enquadrados por degradação ambiental antes de 22 de julho de 2008. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi comparar os impactos econômicos de alterações do Novo Código Florestal, sobre os setores econômicos e regiões do Brasil, considerando três cenários possíveis. Para tanto, foram utilizados dados de cenários específicos gerados pelo modelo GLOBIOM-Brasil: 1) O primeiro cenário traz restrições no uso da terra em caso da utilização parcial do mecanismo de Cotas de Reserva Ambiental (CRA), como forma de compensação do déficit de reserva legal, apenas na agricultura (excluindo pecuaristas); 2) o segundo cenário incorpora restrições no uso no solo em caso da desaprovação do mecanismo Cotas de Reserva Ambiental (CRA), ou seja, desconsidera-se totalmente esse mecanismo de compensação; e 3) no terceiro cenário a restrição do uso da terra está relacionada a desconsideração da anistia das multas e sanções concedida pela Lei 12.651/2012. Esses dados foram integrados à base do Modelo TERM-BR. A metodologia integra dois modelos: GLOBIOM-Brasil e TERM-BR. Os resultados mostraram que o valor dos agregados macroeconômicos, no período acumulado de 2010 a 2030, comparado com a linha de base, houve queda no PIB de 0,12%, 0,14% e 051%, nos cenários 1, 2 e 3, respectivamente. Como também houve queda no Consumo, Gastos do Governo e Importação (vol.) com retração de 0,1% (cenários 1 e 2) e cerca de 0,5% (cenário 3), o Investimento se reduz em 0,8%, 0,8% e 3,1%, nos respectivos cenários 1,2 e 3. A queda percentual no salário real é ainda maior do que no consumo, onde houve redução de 0,3% (cenário 1 e 2) e 1,2% (cenário 3). As exportações aumentam em 0,4% no primeiro e no segundo cenário, enquanto no terceiro cenário o incremento chega a 1,9%. A retração no mercado interno, pressiona os setores agroexportadores para comercialização no mercado internacional. No primeiro cenário, a região mais afetada economicamente foi a do Pará-TO com queda de 2,5% no PIB regional. No segundo cenário o estado do Mato Grosso apresentou maior queda no PIB, em 4,5%. No terceiro cenário, Goiás foi o mais afetado, com queda de 4,3% no PIB, tais resultados foram ocasionados por perda de área de pastagem e de soja, principalmente. Além disso, os resultados mostram que a soja e a criação de bovinos são as atividades mais impactadas negativamente por tais mudanças na política ambiental. / New Forest Code of Brazil became the main environmental regulatory on May 25, 2012, established by Law No. 12.651 / 2012, which regulates exploration, conservation and recovery of native vegetation nationwide. However, this legislation faces Direct Unconstitutionality Actions (DUIs), which point to environmental damages because of the flexibility of the new rules related to permanent preservation areas, reduction of legal reserve and amnesty for those framed by environmental degradation before July 22 of 2008. The objective of this research was to compare the economic impacts of changes in the New Forest Code on economic sectors and regions of Brazil, considering three possible scenarios. For that purpose, we used data from specific scenarios of the GLOBIOM-Brazil model: 1) the first scenario restricts land use in case of partial use of the Mechanism of Environmental Reserves Quotas (CRA in Portuguese) in order to compensate for the legal reserve deficit, only in agriculture (excluding livestock farmers); 2) the second scenario restricts land use in case of disapproval of the Mechanism of Environmental Reserves Quotas mechanism, that is, the mechanism of compensation is totally ignored; and 3) in the third scenario, land use restriction is related to disregarding amnesty of fines and sanctions granted by Law No. 12.651 / 2012. These data were integrated to the base of the TERM-BR model. The methodology integrates two models: GLOBIOM-Brazil and TERM-BR. The results showed that the value of the macroeconomic aggregates, in the accumulated period from 2010 to 2030, compared to the baseline, showed a GDP drop of 0.12%, 0.14% and 051% in scenarios 1, 2 and 3 , respectively. As there was also a decline in consumption, government and importations (vol.) , which decreased of 0.1% (scenarios 1 and 2) and around 0.5% (scenario 3), investment decreased by 0.8% , 0.8% and 3.1% in the respective scenarios 1,2 and 3. The percentage decrease in real salary higher than in consumption showed a reduction of 0.3% (scenarios 1 and 2) and 1, 2% (scenario 3). Exports increased by 0.4% in scenarios 1 and 2, while in scenario 3, the increase is close to 1.9%. The downturn in the domestic market pressures the agro-export sectors for commercialization in the international market. In the first scenario, the region most affected economically was Pará-TO, with a drop of 2.5% in regional GDP. In scenario 2, the state of Mato Grosso showed the greatest GDP drop, at 4.5%. In scenario 3, Goiás was mostly affected, with a fall of 4.3% in GDP, such results were caused by loss of grazing area and soybean, mainly. In addition, it was observed that soybean and cattle raising are the activities most negatively impacted by such changes in environmental policy.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:33:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 947782 bytes, checksum: cb04497c0ca2c855a59cf7c7b128418a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation is an analysis of the Brazilian legislative process, with a case study: the formation of the new forest code. For this study, there is a theoretical issues, such as the definition of public interest, based on fundamental rights, that must co-exist, the theory of communicative action of Habermas and his vision of law and democracy; to elucidate how the law should be formed in accordance with the concept of public interest adopted, and a documental and literature review about the legislative process, to identify the arguments used in the legal debate for the construction of the new forest code. In particular, we divide into two groups, on one hand the ruralistas, who initially proposed the change, on other hand the ambientalistas, who initially refute the new law,requiring the current code. At the end of the dissertation was possible to obtain a picture of the legislative process, replacing if the new code are capable of reflecting the public interest. / Nesta dissertação é feita uma análise do procedimento legislativo brasileiro, com estudo de caso sobre a formação do provável novo código florestal. Para o referido estudo foram abordadas questões teóricas julgadas imprescindíveis para a solução dos problemas propostos, como a definição de interesse público, fundada em direitos e garantias fundamentais que devem co-existir, teoria da ação comunicativa de Habermas e sua visão do Direito e Democracia, para elucidar como o direito deve ser formado em acordo com o conceito de interesse público adotado, e uma análise bibliográfica e documental do procedimento legislativo, para identificação dos argumentos utilizados no debate legal para a construção do novo código florestal. Em específico, no debate legiferante, foi adotada a medida de selecionar os envolvidos em dois grupos, de um lado os ruralistas, que a princípio propõem a mudança, de outro os ambientalistas, que a princípio refutam o novel projeto de lei, requerendo a manutenção do atual código. Ao final da dissertação foi possível auferir se o procedimento legislativo produzirá uma norma de direito ambiental capaz de refletir interesse público.

A problemática ambiental está vinculada à interdependência entre os processos ecológicos e à sua implicação na vida dos seres humanos. O direito ao ambiente ecologicamente equilibrado passa a ser compreendido como uma condição do direito à vida, interpretado, neste estudo, como direito humano fundamental. Com base na concepção de esfera pública de Habermas (1997), este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a dinâmica da esfera pública relativa à tramitação de Projeto de Lei para alteração do Código Florestal Brasileiro, no âmbito do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Trata-se de um estudo local frente a um debate nacional. A esfera pública foi investigada através de suas características de mediação e deliberação, considerando suas dimensões formal e informal. Habermas (1997) defende que a legitimidade do processo legislativo depende da participação daqueles que serão afetados pela legislação, o que, no caso de uma legislação ambiental, como o Código Florestal, corresponde a toda a sociedade. Este trabalho foi realizado por meio de pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa e natureza descritiva-exploratória. As técnicas de coleta de dados adotadas foram a observação participante, a entrevista semiestruturada, a pesquisa documental. A técnica de análise de dados utilizada foi a análise de conteúdo. Os dados analisados são referentes ao período de setembro de 2009 a abril de 2012. O estudo evidenciou que segmentos diversos da sociedade, como movimentos sociais e setor privado, mostraram-se atuantes na esfera pública política, relativamente à modificação do Código Florestal Brasileiro. O acesso às instâncias de participação é, no entanto, diferenciado, bem como os recursos disponíveis a cada segmento da sociedade, o que prejudica a qualidade da deliberação. Observou-se que os movimentos sociais possuem capacidade de revigorar as esferas públicas informais, mas em relação às esferas formais, a sociedade como um todo poderia ser melhor assimilada no processo de elaboração de uma legislação ambiental, a qual se destina a toda a sociedade. / The environmental issue has to do with the interdependence between the ecological processes and their implications on the life of human beings. The right to an ecologically balanced environment is therefore viewed in this study as a condition of the right to life, and a fundamental human right. Drawing on Habermas's conception of the public sphere (1997), this dissertation proposes to investigate the dynamics of the public sphere as regards a bill for the reform of the Brazilian Forest Code that is being processed in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This is therefore a local study addressing a national issue. The public sphere is investigated based on its properties of mediation and deliberation, and considering its formal and informal dimensions. Habermas (1997) argues that the legitimacy of the legislative process depends on the participation of those who will be affected by the legislation – in the case of environmental legislation such as the Forest Code, society as a whole. The analysis was developed from a qualitative descriptive/exploratory research study. The data collection techniques used were participant observation, semi-structured interviewing and documentary research. The data analysis technique used was content analysis. The data analyzed refers to the period between September 2009 and April 2012. The study showed that some segments of society, such as social movements and the private sector, are very active in the public sphere in the fight for the Brazilian Forest Code reform. However, access to the different levels of participation varies, as do the resources that are available to each segment of society, which affects the quality of the deliberation. Finally, the study showed that social movements promote the strengthening of the informal public spheres; however, as regards the formal spheres, it points to the fact that society as a whole could be further integrated into the process of elaboration of environmental legislation – which after all affects society as a whole.