[Updated at 10:20 AM on 05/31/2022]
An important instrument for planning the state's sustainable development, the law underwent a preliminary study involving more than two hundred researchers, but this collective effort was not reflected in the final text, criticizes civil society.
Sanctioned by the governor of Maranhão, Carlos Brandão (PSB), Law No. 11.734 was published in the State Official Gazette on May 26, 2022. Authored by the Executive branch during Flávio Dino's (PSB) administration, the text was approved in two rounds by the Legislative Assembly and establishes the Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE) of the Cerrado Biome and Coastal System of the State of Maranhão. The drafting of the legislation involved a robust study with over two hundred researchers from local universities, but the attention given to the preliminary analysis was not reflected in its processing in the AL/MA. Civil society complains of haste, lack of transparency, and the non-incorporation of relevant proposed amendments.
But what exactly is ZEE? Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE) is an instrument of the National Environmental Policy regulated by Federal Decree No. 4.297/2002, whose objective is to plan and order the Brazilian territory to enable the sustainable development of a given region by reconciling its environmental and socioeconomic characteristics. To this end, ZEE relies on diagnoses and technical analyses, planning future scenarios and seeking to reduce predatory actions. ZEE plays a major role in guiding the planning, management, and use of the territory, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of public and private plans, programs, and policies. In the case of the ZEE of the Cerrado Biome and Coastal System of Maranhão, the zoning represents 57,62% of the total area of the State, encompassing 119 municipalities and a significant portion of the population.
Concern of civil society
For the organization and establishment of the Ecological-Economic Zoning, ten public hearings were held in the municipalities of Pedreiras, Presidente Dutra, Caxias, Chapadinha, Colinas, Balsas, Estreito, Barra do Corda, Barreirinhas, and São Luís, conducted by the Maranhão Institute of Socioeconomic and Cartographic Studies (IMESC). Marcilene Guajajara, head of the Coordination of Organizations and Articulations of Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão (COAPIMA), praises the holding of the public hearings, but with concern. “Not all leaders have the same understanding. In the presentations at the public hearings, there are many technical terms. Did the leaders who participated really understand what was explained? This worries me,” she points out. The public hearing intended for indigenous peoples was held inside the Military Police Battalion of Barra do Corda.
Vitor Hugo Moraes, a lawyer and public policy advisor at the Institute for Society, Population and Nature (ISPN), was initially pleased, recognizing the robustness of the detailed, scaled-down studies for understanding the state's territory. However, based on the technical analysis, the Executive presented a text that rushed through the Legislative Assembly without going through the Environment Committee or the State Environment Council (Consema), and without incorporating amendments presented by civil society. "There was no alteration to the text presented by the Executive because there wasn't enough time to analyze the law. Civil society presented amendments for improvement that were discarded. Nothing that was presented in the public hearings was considered," he complains.
Among the points ignored by state deputies are the need to develop Management Plans for the State's Conservation Units, which do not yet have them, as well as the creation of "buffer zones" between rural properties and any neighboring villages, in order to avoid conflicts between farmers and local communities. Maranhão was the state with the most murders in rural areas in 2021, according to a report by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT).
For Vitor Hugo Moraes, another worrying point, besides the haste and rigidity of the text, is the lack of transparency in the process. “IMESC did not disclose information regarding the human populations present in the Cerrado biome, which in itself hinders the analysis of the zoning proposal. Maintaining this biome is fundamental to promoting environmental quality, which directly influences the lives of these people,” he explains. According to the lawyer, it is necessary to differentiate the production systems carried out by family farmers and traditional communities from the production system of the industrial agricultural sector. “Classifying peasant agriculture, which conserves the environment, in the same way as systems based on environmental degradation is inappropriate and dangerous because it masks the contributions made by the peasants of Maranhão,” Moraes states.
Concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the matter are impacting other environmental projects that are being processed in secrecy in the Legislative Assembly, such as the proposal to update the... State Environmental Protection Code, which will now be called the State Environmental Policy Law. Presented by a Commission of Jurists established by the president of the AL/MA in March, the text of the proposal has not been made publicly available.
A peculiarity of Maranhão
"Maranhão is a world unto itself," commented the Deputy Secretary for Indigenous Peoples of the State. Edilena KrikatiThis statement was made during the 18th Free Land Camp, held in April of this year in Brasília. The assertion is justified by the region's diverse socio-biodiversity. A meeting point of the Cerrado, Amazon, and Caatinga biomes, as well as a wetland area, the state is home to seventeen Indigenous Territories, encompassing nearly 50 native peoples. The dominant linguistic groups are Jê and Tupi, in addition to other segments of traditional communities, such as quilombolas, artisanal fishermen, and babaçu nut breakers. Local communities, far from being effectively protected, grapple with problems resulting from large-scale projects, such as soybean planting and eucalyptus extraction. The Indigenous Territories, for example, are surrounded by farms, facing land tenure and social problems.
“The ZEE (Ecological-Economic Zoning) of Maranhão is an instrument to resolve conflicts, but it is necessary to ensure that the voice of local communities is recorded in the legislation. Unfortunately, we haven't seen that yet. And violence in the countryside continues to grow,” reinforces Vitor Hugo. According to the ISPN advisor, what is important now is to strengthen policies for preventing violence in the countryside and illegal deforestation, and to ensure that future laws guarantee broad public debate.