Resumo. The gallery forests are being fragmented, leading to loss of its high diversity, becoming indispensable studies assessing the environmental performance of their tree species. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that the production of seedlings Copaifera langsdorffii is influenced by ambient light, higher quality and initial development at intermediate light levels. Plants were tested in full sun, 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% shading in order to evaluate the number of leaves, height and diameter at 60, 90, 120 and 191 days after emergence (DAE) and dry root and shoot biomass and Dickson quality index (DQI) at the end of he experiment (191 DAE). The effect of shading levels was analyzed by means of regression analysis. The plants showed good growth plasticity at different levels of lightness, but with better development and quality (IQD) at 50% shade, corroborating the hypothesis tested. The excessive lightness or shading should be avoided to ensure the production of more vigorous seedlings of Copaifera langsdorffii . Thus, production of seedlings of this species under 50% shade is recommended to promote their quality and possibly ensure better survival in the field.