Dear leaders of the Brazilian Legislative Branch,
Brazil is urging to solve a deadlock that has been getting worse over the decades: land tenure legalization. This is an essential step to eliminate conflicts, bring legal security, increase investments and offer economic inclusion to many rural producers. Therefore, land tenure legalization is a paramount condition to the economic, social and environmental development of the country.
That said, Brazilian Coalition on Climate, Forests and Agriculture – a movement that gathers more than 200 representatives from the agribusiness, third sector and academia – requests you that the Provisional Measure (MP) 910/2019 does not get placed on the calendar to vote.
This MP was presented as a supposed solution to the land tenure challenge. However, it has severe impacts on combating illegality, especially in combating land grabbing and the consequent growth of illegal deforestation and agrarian distress.
The MP 910/2019 goes in the opposite direction of good land management since it shows invaders that crime has no consequence. Who would be interested in this mistake? In a position paper about the MP 910, the Coalition has detailed this and other risks from this measure.
Due to this concern, the Coalition has started a dialogue with the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) to find a content for the MP 910 that would allow to 1) take advantage and improve positive actions, such as the use of technology in the land tenure legalization process; and 2) correct severe flaws of the MP 910 based on data and technical information. This dialogue continues and we have the hope that our contributions will be heard and followed by the Executive Branch.
Thus, we warn that MP 910’s current content, presently with the Congress, concerns the members of the Coalition, as it does not resonate with important names and organizations from the sectors of our economy.
We believe that it is necessary to think of a new proposal for the land tenure challenge, one that contemplates a wide debate among the diverse sectors of society and still considers the necessary economic recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic, especially in rural areas with a specific focus on family farming and communities arrangements. National Congress members know they can rely on all the support and knowledge of our network to build a solution capable of: using the most modern technology available, enforcing existing laws, benefiting good land occupants, and bringing security and investments to the country.
Sincerely,
André Guimarães – Coalition’s Co-Facilitator and Executive-Director of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM)
Marcello Brito – Coalition’s Co-Facilitator and President of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (Abag)