Farmer perceptions, policy and reforestation in Santa Catarina, Brazil

- We interviewed dairy farmers practing rotational grazing about Brazil's forest code.
- Few farmers were willing to comply with the code, though most understood its benefits.
- Public sector support for agroecology or PES may increase compliance with the code.

Extensive reforestation may be required to avert dramatic loss of biodiversity, system resilience and ecosystem services from Brazil's Atlantic Forest, and is legally required by Brazil's Forest Code. Restoration on farmland however threatens agricultural output and the livelihoods of small family farmers, leading to weak enforcement of the law and a national debate over the Code which resulted in revisions in 2012 that significantly reduced legally mandated restoration. To inform the design of effective environmental policies, we interviewed 60 typical dairy family farmers utilizing pasture-based agroecological grazing practices to assess their perceptions and knowledge of the pre-2012 Forest Code, its impacts and their willingness to comply. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) identified three distinct clusters: farmers who understood the forest code and its ecological impacts and were willing to comply; farmers who understood the ecological benefits of restoration, but were unwilling to comply; and those with little knowledge of benefits or interest in compliance. We evaluate three policy options for promoting restoration, paying particular attention to their impacts on farmer livelihoods and on their intrinsic willingness to restore and preserve forest cover. We conclude that payments for ecosystem services in the form of subsidies for agroecology practices are promising.