With information from the Climate Observatory (OC) and Forestry Code Observatory (OCF)
The plenary of the Chamber approved, at the end of this Thursday afternoon (30), two Provisional Measures (MP), still from the Bolsonaro government, with environmental setbacks considered important by civil society organizations.
Both now go to the Senate. If they are changed, they will be analyzed again by the deputies.
MP 1,150/2022 opens the way for more deforestation in what little remains (12%) of the most threatened biome in the country: the Atlantic Forest. And worse: in this case, the proposal was made through a “jabuti”, that is, an amendment unrelated to the main theme of the MP – the Forestry Code (Law 12,651/2012). The idea came from União Brasil and the leader of the party, Elmar Nascimento (BA), put his foot down to include it in the approved wording.
The final text also extends for another year the time limit for rural producers to adhere to the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA), provided for in the Forestry Code. The aggravating factor is that the deadline is valid after the state governments have been called to join, but a specific time has not been defined for this call and only six states have started to implement the PRAs. Through them, rural producers formalize the commitment to reforest or compensate illegally deforested areas.
Also according to the MP, before the call, the Rural Environmental Registry (CARs) of the landowner (also provided for in the law) must be previously analyzed by the environmental agency. The problem is that, to date, only 45,000 rural properties, or less than 1% of the approximately 7 million registered, have had this analysis completed, according to the Forestry Code Observatory (OCF). In this way, the MP opens a loophole so that the legislation is not actually complied with (learn more in the boxes at the end of the report).
This is the sixth time that membership of the PRA has been postponed. The issue has been dragging on since 2012, when the new Forest Code was approved.
Deforestation and impunity
According to environmentalists, the MP encourages deforestation and impunity, at a time when the country is struggling to resume environmental and climate policies and, through them, its international credibility, after the widespread dismantling promoted by the administration of Jair Bolsonaro
“The approved wording is full of ‘legislative contraband’. With this, in addition to being unconstitutional, it proposes an environmental disaster for what little remains of the Atlantic Forest, for conservation units and even for risk areas on the margins of rivers”, warns Mauricio Guetta, legal consultant for the ISA.
“In the midst of so many tragedies, like the one we see in Acre and we saw on the coast of São Paulo, the Chamber turns against the population and the environment to benefit half a dozen private interests”, he completes.
“The Chamber of Deputies has just approved the biggest tortoise in history in an MP. Under the pretext of extending the term of the CAR and the PRA, it shattered the Atlantic Forest Law, adding a plenary amendment, in my view, unconstitutional”, reinforces the Director of Public Policies at SOS Mata Atlântica, Malu Ribeiro.
“This approval puts Brazil back in the opposite direction of what the world expects. It favors and increases deforestation, distances the country from international commitments on climate, water and biodiversity. The only Brazilian biome that has a special law was disrespected by benches alien to society’s needs, at this time of climate emergency. We are going to ask President Lula to veto the MP”, he informs.
tense negotiations
MP 1,150 was approved with a favorable vote by the government and most parties, including the PT/PCdoB/PV federation. Only PDT, PSB and the PSOL/Rede federation voted against.
At the end of tense negotiations throughout the week, the government and PT leaders ended up giving in to the changes proposed by the rapporteur, the former president of the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture, Deputy Sérgio Sousa (MDB-PR). The original text of the MP only extended the deadline for joining the PRA by 180 days.
An agreement was made whereby the opposition will not try to overturn possible vetoes by President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva to last-minute changes made to the original proposal. The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), participated in the understanding. According to a PT deputy, the government also had to give in in favor of trying to consolidate a cohesive parliamentary base.
The president of the Environmentalist Parliamentary Front, deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-SP), says that there is still no government position on the matter. He believes, however, that there is a great chance for the Planalto to veto the “turtle” that changed the protection of the Atlantic Forest because it was an “absurd” proposal. “Now, we need to work internally within the government to veto these tortoises”, he comments.
“The extension of the deadline for joining the PRA is a matter of justice and logic. This is a matter of justice, as farmers cannot be punished for the state’s delay in implementing the Environmental Regularization Program. It is a matter of logic, as it is not possible to adhere to what does not exist”, pointed out Sousa in his report.
The law passed in 2012 forgave 41 million hectares illegally deforested. According to her, 21 million still need to be reforested. Brazil has more than 16 million hectares of Legal Reserve native vegetation and more than three million hectares of Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) that need to be recovered.
Threat to indigenous and traditional communities
Another MP approved in the plenary of the Chamber, number 1,151/2022, changes the rules of forest concessions, opening up the possibility of exploiting other environmental goods and services, in addition to wood, including in protected areas occupied by indigenous and traditional communities.
According to the final wording, the concessions may generate carbon credits and use the genetic heritage of plants and animals, for example. They will also be able to foresee the handling of fauna and fishing.
Mauricio Guetta recalls that areas occupied by traditional communities cannot be granted for economic exploitation by third parties. He also fears that the PM will jeopardize access to natural resources and subsistence activities in these communities.
Guetta adds that, as it stands, the MP gives the concessionaire the possibility of profiting from carbon credits in public areas without any additionality, that is, without effective carbon sequestration actions. In addition, in this case, the resources obtained should also be allocated to protected areas, conservation policies in general and indigenous and traditional populations whose territories would be exploited.
The commercialization of carbon credits allows companies, institutions or people to offset greenhouse gas emissions resulting from undertakings and economic activities, through the acquisition of credits generated by projects to reduce these emissions or to capture carbon from the atmosphere. An initiative to restrict pollutants from an industry, reforestation or conservation of an area with native vegetation are examples of this type of project.
What else changes with MP 1,150/2022?
– The current law requires that the deforestation of primary (never deforested) and secondary (already deforested) vegetation in an advanced stage of regeneration in the Atlantic Forest can only be done if there is no “technical and locational alternative”. The MP extinguishes the requirement.
– The text of the MP also dispenses with the technical opinion of a state environmental agency for deforestation of Atlantic Forest vegetation in the medium stage of regeneration in an urban area. According to the approved text, in this case, deforestation will depend only on the municipal environmental agency.
– If the MP is approved, it will no longer be necessary to compensate for deforestation outside Permanent Preservation Areas (APP) caused by works such as transmission lines, water supply systems and even resorts.
– The postponement of the deadline for access to amnesties for illegal deforestation through registration in the CAR until December 23, for properties larger than 4 fiscal modules, or until December 2024, for properties smaller than four modules or family members. This deadline expired on December 31, 2020.
What is the Forest Code?
The Native Vegetation Protection Law (12.651/2012)
The former 1965 Forest Code was reformed after more than 10 years of debates and pressure for its amendment. It required the full reforestation of Permanent Preservation Areas (APPs) and Legal Reserves (RLs) illegally deforested (learn more below). The new law exempts part of the recovery of these “consolidated areas” (deforested and in agricultural use) until 2008, while the areas conserved until then must be maintained in this way, according to the parameters of the old legislation.
In the case of APPs, it determined specific lengths that should be maintained in all cases. The new law provides for the maintenance or recomposition of significantly reduced strips in relation to the deforested APPs. Regarding the LR, the new Code presents two significant differences: the first is that the calculation of this area must incorporate the APPs; the second is that properties smaller than four fiscal modules will not have the obligation to recompose the deforestation carried out until 2008.
Permanent Preservation Area (APP)
According to the law, it is the area whose native vegetation must be protected on the banks of springs and other bodies of water, on tops of hills, slopes and other sensitive areas. They have the environmental function of preserving water resources, the landscape, the stability and richness of the soil, guaranteeing the diversity of fauna and flora and ensuring the well-being of human populations. They are essential for the maintenance and quality of water sources, preventing and mitigating erosion, silting, floods, torrents and landslides.
Reserva Legal (RL)
According to legislation, it is the area located inside a property or rural possession that must be preserved. The percentage of RL in relation to the extension of the property varies according to the region: 80% in the Amazon; 35% in the Cerrado within the Amazon; 20% in the rest of the country. These areas have the function of ensuring the sustainable economic use of natural resources, helping the conservation and rehabilitation of ecological processes and preserving biodiversity, sheltering and protecting wild fauna and native flora.
Rural Environmental Registry (CAR)
Created by the new law, the CAR is a mandatory, free and self-reporting electronic record that aims to integrate the environmental information of all rural properties: the status of APPs, RLs, “consolidated areas” and remnants of native vegetation. It comprises a national database for monitoring, controlling and combating deforestation and planning for environmental recovery.
Each state is responsible for creating its registration system, promoting its operation, analyzing and validating its data. Some states have their own programs, while others prefer to use the module provided by the federal government. Federal management is also responsible for guiding and supporting the implementation of each state’s systems.
Environmental Regularization Program (PRA)
Also provided for by the new Forest Code, it comprises the set of rules and actions to be complied with by rural landowners and squatters with the aim of adapting and promoting environmental regularization. Registration of the rural property in the CAR is a mandatory condition for joining the PRA. Each state needs to regulate, implement and develop its PRA.