Legalization of land grabbing and corruption, increased deforestation, and damage to public coffers are some of the points considered critical regarding the provisional measure proposed by the government.
Signed in December 2019 by President Jair Bolsonaro, Provisional Measure 910, also known as “Land Grabbing Provisional MeasureThe bill, currently under consideration in the National Congress, saw Senator Irajá Abreu (PSD-TO) successfully overcome the federal government's "goodies" package in his report presented on the 12th. The bill, which could be voted on in the coming days, increases the likelihood that farmers and companies who have committed crimes such as invading public lands and illegal deforestation will go unpunished, profit at the taxpayer's expense, and obtain land regularization.
The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, civil society organizations, researchers, representatives of traditional peoples and communities, and family farmers see the measure as a veritable fire sale of public lands throughout the country, in favor of large land grabbers, deforesters, and criminals who profit from real estate speculation, the aggravation of agrarian conflicts, and environmental degradation, especially in the Amazon and Cerrado areas, such as the MATOPIBA region, which encompasses Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia.
MP 910 alters key points of land legislation, including the time frame for regularizing recent invasions of public lands, occurring up to December 2018 (previously the time frame was 2011), paying the maximum value of the Incra price table. According to the proposal by rapporteur Irajá, to prove possession it would be sufficient to occupy and exploit the land, even indirectly, through the work of third parties, employees, or "front men".
"This will encourage new invasions and lead to increased deforestation and violence in the countryside, by sending the message that deadlines may be changed again in the future by the government of the day or the National Congress."
Guilherme Eidt, legal advisor of ISPN
The senator at least deigned to prohibit the titling of those who appear on the list of slave labor, something that the government's original proposal allowed. But, with the possibility of regularizing landholdings of individuals or companies up to 2.500 hectares without bidding or inspection, even in areas with environmental fines or embargoes, it is easy to see that the objective of rapporteur Irajá's text is to legalize land grabbing situations for speculative purposes.
"As the proposal stands, the provisional measure deviates from its objective: to benefit small producers. Benefiting medium and large landowners without more rigorous proof of land ownership, for example, ends up sending a bad signal."
Paulo Moutinho, PhD in Ecology and co-founder of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute – IPAM,
According to the proposal by rapporteur Irajá, inspections would be carried out in cases of overlapping areas, but the text does not indicate which database would be used to verify these overlaps. The Land Management System (SIGEF) used by Incra for regularization purposes no longer allows the inclusion of overlapping areas. Therefore, for this measure to be effective, it is necessary to consider the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) database, which, even though it still lacks validation by the states, registers overlap rates exceeding 95% of registered properties.
The conversion of this provisional measure into law could increase conflicts in the countryside, since many of these land overlaps are in territories occupied by traditional peoples and communities and family farmers, groups that are legitimately on the land producing and working sustainably. Family farmer Maria Silva*, from Ceará, says that the measure will not benefit small farmers and could increase conflicts because land grabbers would be legally emboldened to expel and persecute "the small farmers".
"Since the signing of the provisional measure at the end of last year, the persecution and violence against 'us' has increased significantly, and now with this provisional measure, the powerful are empowered to persecute us even more," he comments.
Maria Silva*, family farmer
It is clear that the text of Provisional Measure 910 rewards illegal deforesters when it allows the titling of areas that have not been fined or embargoed for infractions and environmental damage already proven in satellite images with records of forest devastation, without requiring them to adhere to the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA) or to sign terms of commitment or conduct adjustment with environmental agencies.
The measure also reduces the risk of losses due to illegality, as it entitles those who invaded, deforested, and paid nothing for the use of the land to compensation for useful and necessary improvements, and who, even with so many facilities, failed to meet the requirements for regularization, to compensation. It also allows people who have already benefited from land titling more than 10 years ago and sold their land to participate again in agrarian reform and land regularization programs.
And that's not all; with a true land refinancing program, the rapporteur extends to 2026 the deadline for renegotiating the default of those who had titles issued and failed to comply with mandatory clauses of the contracts. He also expands the exemption from notary fees or charges for the first title registration from 4 fiscal modules to areas of up to 2.500 hectares, an unjustified benefit for properties that are not part of family farming.
And the discounts of 10% to 50% off the minimum value in the Incra price list remain valid, now including those who invaded public land up to 2012, the year the Forest Code came into effect. In other words, it will still be possible to obtain a property title by paying ridiculously low prices, far below market value, with subsidies that represent losses to public coffers that could amount to R$ 88 billion in the Brazilian Amazon alone. A loss equivalent, for example, to the construction of more than 6 million low-income houses, or 50% of all FUNDEB revenue in 2019.
There are already regulations that address land regularization for small, medium, and even large producers, with the modifications introduced by Law 13.465/2017. Corrections, such as the possibility of granting titles to associations or federations of residents' associations in Environmentally Differentiated Settlement Projects (Extractive Settlement Project, Sustainable Development Project, Forestry Settlement Project), are indeed necessary to conserve areas of significant environmental and social interest under the Union's domain, which are inalienable and not available to the market, the expansion of agribusiness, or mining exploitation. However, judging by the overall proposals, this does not seem to be the intention of the rapporteur of Provisional Measure 910, when he opens the possibility of granting titles to legal entities, without criteria for directing them to organizations representing beneficiaries of the agrarian reform program.
Given proposals like these, it is urgent to reject the report on Provisional Measure 910.
A democratic land regularization process in Brazil must be geared towards meeting the land titling demands of those who fulfill the current legal requirements in good faith, including regarding environmental legality. It is necessary to reclaim illegally invaded public lands in cases where invaders fail to meet regularization requirements, instead of altering the law to benefit criminals. The priority of recognizing and titling indigenous territories, quilombola populations, and other populations in traditionally occupied territories must be respected. Without strengthening the fight against illegal deforestation, especially the most recent deforestation after July 2008, any land regularization proposal will contribute little to improving governance and territorial management in Brazil.
*For security reasons, the interviewee's name has been changed.