Avaliação da eficácia da legislação penal ambiental na conservação de áreas naturais e na preservação da ictiofauna autóctone

Abstract

The analysis of information from the prosecution of legal instruments allows not only rational underpinning the development of public policies to conserve natural resources, as also promotes the constant improvement of the repressive legislation of conduct considered detrimental to the environment. The objective of this study has been assessing the effectiveness of legal protection models adopted by the criminal law in force in environmental area characterized by full economic development and subjected to intense and constant anthropogenic threats. So, we studied the region of Sao Jose do Rio Preto, northwest of Sao Paulo state, Brazil. We analyze the feasibility of legal instruments for the protection of natural areas on private property and subjected to anthropogenic pressures for land use. The results indicate that the increased demand for areas intended for food production and biofuels represents one of the greatest challenges to the preservation of natural resources in Brazil. The juridical protection is insufficient to guarantee the conservation of natural areas, requiring for the success of conservation strategies the development and implementation of participatory management projects. Withal, we evaluated the effectiveness of the typical structuring technique taken into account by the environmental crimes law in preserving autochthonous fish fauna. The results indicate that the tutelage technique of environmental legislation is effective in controlling fishing activities, mainly due to the high incidence of non-selective means of capture and the prevalence autochthonous species against non-autochthonous (allochthonous and exotics) species. Although environmental legislation constitutes an important tool for protection of natural resources its effectiveness is directly subjected to the development and deployment of other concomitant conservation strategies, particularly the development of comprehensive and active policies, able to overcome the challenge of reconciling the socio-economic interests and conservationist interests.