As crenças dos produtores rurais sobre ampliar suas áreas de reserva Legal e de proteção permanente

Abstract

In Brazil, The Forestry Code (Law N012.65/12) established the percentages of legal reserve (RL) and the rules for the maintenance of permanent preservation areas (APP) in farms. Farmers must therefore comply with this legislation under penalty of fines. However, it is possible to choose to have additional areas of RL and APP beyond the established by law. The expansion of such areas, above what is established by law, is voluntary and may promote higher conservation level in farms. In this study, the basis of the theory of planned behavior (TCP) was used to identify the beliefs of farmers about expanding their areas of RL and APP, in addition to the minimum established in the legislation. TCP assumes that intention is the best predictor of human behavior, and that intention, in turn, is influenced by attitude, subjective norm (or social pressure) and perceived behavioral control. These three constructs are formed by behavioral, normative and control beliefs, respectively, which were the focus of this research. To identify the beliefs, twenty-one farmers from Mato Grosso do Sul, in the cerrado biome, were interviewed. Data were collected through interviews, with semistructured questionnaire and analyzed by content analysis. The results showed that, in general, the behavioral beliefs of farmers are associated with environmental advantages of the expansion of the Areas of RL and APP, but at the same time, they associate economic disadvantages. In addition, the normative beliefs of farmers are associated with groups linked to the productive sector that would disapprove such expansions, as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and social movements, for example, would approve. Finally, the control beliefs are associated with economic measures, which, in this case, are the facilitators for the expansion of RL and APP, such as reduction/exemption of taxes and reduction of interest rates of financing, showing the need for urgent action for the formulation of strategies that meet the expectations of farmers.