This paper presents and discusses the issue about the protection of riparian zones in agricultural areas of southern Brazil, especially in the state of Santa Catarina, where family farming prevails practiced in small properties. The legal requirements set by the Brazilian Forest Code of 1965 are presented before the limitations to comply with the law imposed by cultural factors, physical environment and size of the agricultural properties. In order to illustrate the problem, the two prevailing streams in the debate are compared regarding the use of riparian areas in Santa Catarina: the application of existing legal provisions versus law flexibility to meet current uses in permanent preservation areas.
Riparian Zones; Riparian Forest; Water Resources; Family Agriculture; Forests