摘要：Biodiversity loss is a problem that affects several natural ecosystems in the world, occurring in alarming and crescent rates. The reduction of these rates consists in the main commitment agreed among countries that participate in the Biological Diversity Convention. This article aims at examining some of the existing legal and economic instruments in Brazil to achieve this commitment, specially regarding the conservation of forest remnants. The main command and control instruments employed and established through the Brazilian Forest Code (1934; 1965; 2012a) and the National System of Conservation Areas (2000), among other regulatory devices, are presented. Some economic instruments also considered are the Ecological Goods and Services Tax and the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage. These instruments are analyzed in light of their efficacy in maintaining the forest cover in public and private areas. Their limitations and potentialities are discussed while the predominance of command and control instruments over the economic ones is observed. Finally, it is concluded that the needed improvement of the governmental strategy towards the conservation of forest remnants could be achieved by strengthening the performance of the available command and control instruments, complementing those with new economic instruments.
关键词：command and control instruments;economic instruments;Brazilian environmental legislation;forest conservation;instrumentos de comando e controle;instrumentos econômicos;legislação ambiental brasileira: conservação florestal
