The role of forest plantations for the native vegetation conservation in the protected areas surroundings

Protected areas are essential for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, the conservation of these areas depends on the management of their surroundings to promote landscape connectivity. In agricultural landscapes, the preservation of native vegetation in rural properties is one of the main strategies to promote the connectivity of the protected area. Forest certifications that require compliance with environmental laws can work as an important instrument to maintain native vegetation in forest plantation areas. In Brazil, most commercial plantations consist of exotic species, predominantly eucalyptus, pine, and teak. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use/land-cover (LULC) and the landscape connectivity changes in the surrounding area of a protected area between 1986 and 2019 and understand if commercial forest plantations have contributed to maintaining native vegetation on private lands. For this, we evaluated LULC in 1986, 2008 and 2019, focusing on the application of the so-called New Forest Act (NFA). We compared LULC change with agricultural land suitability to check for trends. The landscape connectivity and the importance of the surrounding native vegetation fragments were verified based on the Graph Theory. Property boundaries were extracted from a land tenure model based on the Rural Environmental Registry. To verify the perception of landowners and planted forest industries, we sent a questionnaire with open and closed questions. Our results showed that pasture was the main LULC in the area but has decreased giving space to native vegetation regeneration and mostly to forest plantation and soybean expansion. Pasture with lower agricultural suitability is converted to forest plantation and native vegetation, while pasture with higher agricultural suitability becomes soybean crops. At the rural property level, forest plantations presented the largest area and the largest native vegetation cover compared to other agricultural sectors but still presented a significant riparian vegetation deficit, according to the NFA. Forest fragmentation has increased over the years, even with the increase in native vegetation in 2019 compared to 2008. Regarding the landowner’s perception, farmers and industries have demonstrated knowledge and intent to comply with the NFA, but most do not know the Capão Bonito Nacional Forest (CBNF). Our results show that forest plantations have an important role in protecting native vegetation in the protected area surroundings, and the forest certification helps environmental legislation compliance. However, the conservation strategies between landowners, planted forest industries, and the protected area must be improved, mainly the Permanent Preservation Area deficits (riparian zones) inherited from pastures and which were converted into forest plantations. Furthermore, strategies to engage the local population in conserving the protected area, such as through agroforestry systems promotion, are fundamental.