The President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, signed today (9) the bill that reduces, by approximately 40%, the area of the Brasília National Forest, the largest conservation unit in the Federal District, which protects springs, in addition to a variety of Cerrado fauna and flora. The text of the sanction was published in an extra edition of the Official Gazette (DOU) and had been approved by the Federal Senate last month. 
The bill (PL) 2.776/2020 is authored by deputy Flávia Arruda (PL-DF) and was reported by Senator Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF). The objective of reducing the conservation unit is to allow the urban regularization of already consolidated occupation areas.
In a note, the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic justified the measure as a way of “providing a dignified life” to the inhabitants of the 26 de Setembro and Maranatha settlements, in addition to farms installed along the Capãozinho, Descoberto, Zé Pires and Cortado streams.
“It is important to note that, while the settlement was installed by the GDF, in 1996, the area of the Brasília National Forest was demarcated by the federal government, in 1999, covering the region where the Colony was already located. The population that lives there was never relocated , which, at this point, would be impossible to do”, informs the General Secretariat.
The total extension of the Brasília National Forest was 9,300 hectares, divided into four areas. The PL excluded areas 2 and 3, which together total approximately 4 thousand hectares. On the other hand, the PL expanded area 1, considered the most preserved, from 3,400 to 3,700 hectares.
