Law No. 10/99 on Forest and Wildlife Act.

The Forest and Wildlife Act is divided into 9 Chapters: General (Chap. I); Protection of forest and wildlife resources (II); Sustainable forest resources exploitation regimes and Sustainable wildlife conservation regimes (III); Forest and wildlife resources restocking (IV); Management of forest and wildlife resources (V); Forest guarding (VI); Offences and penalties (VII); Final dispositions (VIII). The present Law establishes the basic principles and norms for the protection, conservation and sustainable utilization of forest and wildlife resources under an integrated management framework for the economic and social development of the country. The Law classificates the national forest heritage according to potential, location and mode of utilization different types and other conservation areas. The State promotes the reforestation for commercial, industrial or energy purposes and for recuperation of degraded areas, preferably on dunes, in watersheds and in fragile ecosystems. The wildlife heritage consists of all wild animals in the national territory and is classified in function of its rarity, economic and socio-cultural value for species listed under a special decree. The holder of a title, whether by virtue of occupation or through authorized request, to the right to use and make improvements on land does not necessarily have a licence to exploit the forest and wildlife resources in the respective area, save in those cases where such exploitation is undertaken solely for subsistence purposes. It defines different types of protected areas. Any illegal activity (such as fires in forest, crop field, woodland) shall be condemned up to one year of imprisonment and the corresponding fine, specified in the text.