Mantiqueira Conservation Plan: Building Environmental Governance for Forest Restoration on Private Lands

Objective: The article describes and analyzes the governance established by the Mantiqueira Conservation Plan (MCP), seeking to understand its configuration of actors, their roles and their main institutional interrelations. Theoretical Framework: The article mobilizes the notion of environmental governance as a field for institutional analysis and the analysis of social actors related to the MCP. Method: The survey and analysis of secondary data accessed in technical reports, legal documents and bibliographical references were used. In addition, participant observation in MCP implementation processes was mobilized as a strategy for data collection. Results and Discussion: The MCP establishes a governance with different levels. At each level, an institutionality linked to a territorial scale is identified. At the general level, there are non-governmental organizations that promote the PCM. At the regional level, there are the nuclei, represented by organizations that make connections between the organizations at the general level and those at the local level. At the local level, there is the municipality, represented by municipal actors. Research Implications: The article contributes theoretically to the understanding of the governance arrangement implemented by the MCP, pointing out some important challenges. It provides useful material for the actors involved to take measures to enhance positive results and reflect on possibilities for overcoming the challenges faced. Originality/Value: This is an unprecedented analysis of the MCP, which is a movement by groups to address the problem of forest deficit on private lands. The MCP is an innovative social process for building governance arrangements to promote forest restoration.