Cadastro ambiental rural (CAR): avaliação dos registros e apontamentos sobre a digitalização da terra e da gestão ambiental rural em Uberlândia-MG

Abstract

The “Cadastro Ambiental Rural” (Rural Environmental Registry of Brazil), known in Brazil by the acronym “CAR”, is a tool established by the Brazilian Forest Code and is mandatory for all rural properties. Its purpose is to create a digital network with information about land use and occupancy across the entire national territory. Its implementation has enabled access to comprehensive visual information about registered properties in a digital format. Anyone with internet access can obtain information from these records, such as property size, areas of Native Vegetation, Legal Reserves, Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs), making it an extensive public database for research and potentially managing land use and occupancy. The municipality of Uberlândia, located in the Triângulo Mineiro region of Minas Gerais, is recognized as one of the main agribusiness hubs in the state. This recognition is due to the modern and capitalized nature of grain production (primarily soybeans and corn) as well as the industrial processing of a significant portion of the regional production. Consequently, rural properties are essential for the municipality's economy. Through rural environmental registrations, the analysis of land features and land use can provide information for future municipal public policies, especially regarding the sustainability and environmental management of rural areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the land ownership structure of Uberlândia and the environmental information on rural properties in the municipality, based on CAR registrations. The methodology used included a literature review, data collection in SICAR and data processing in a GIS environment. Despite the precision normally associated with technical tools for managing territorial data (such as GIS and GPS), the self-declaratory nature of the CAR implies inconsistencies in data recording, as we present and discuss in the paper.