The degradation of Brazilian ecosystems has occurred mainly due to anthropogenic actions following urbanisation and the extraction of natural resources. This has made it essential to implement measures aimed at the environmental recovery of impacted areas. The Degraded Area Recovery Plan (PRAD) was regulated in the 1980s and has since gained ground in licensing processes, mitigation and compensatory measures programmes and has become an essential command and control tool for the environmental recovery process. The aim of this work is to address the importance and relevance of PRAD. To this end, a roadmap was drawn up for its production, analysing each stage and demonstrating its importance for the recovery of degraded areas. Consequently, the Degraded Area Recovery Plan - Forquilha Mine - beneficiation plant and tailings deposit was used as a case study to illustrate the occurrence of each stage and to verify its efficiency / success, thus demonstrating the recovery process in a real case.