With the aim of contributing to the development of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation and Wildfires in the Cerrado Biome (PPCerrado) – 4th Phase (2023-2027), the Observatory of Sociobiodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio) prepared proposals for the public consultation opened by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA).
O Valid identity document The document, made available for consultation between September 13 and October 13, 2023, was read and discussed by members of the observatory, who contributed to restructuring the wording of the Plan in order to adapt it to the public policies monitored by the network and to the needs of traditional peoples and communities.
The search for public participation occurs amidst the release of alarming data: DETER, a system of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), It pointed out that deforestation alerts increased by 149% in September of this year compared to the same month in 2022, rising from 273 km2 to 680 km2.The accumulated deforestation figures for the Cerrado in 2023 are also significantly higher than those recorded in the same period last year, with a 27% increase in the total number of alerts identified between January and September.
The expectation is that the 4th phase of the Cerrado PPC will be implemented over five years (between 2023 and 2027), in accordance with the execution of the Multi-Year Plan (PPA), and is structured around four axes:
1️⃣ Axis I – Sustainable productive activities;
2️⃣ Axis II – Environmental monitoring and control;
3️⃣ Axis III – Land and territorial planning; and
4️⃣ Axis IV – Regulatory and economic instruments.
The Cerrado PPC (Program for the Conservation of the Cerrado Biome) is an instrument that provides guidelines to all ministries and other federal executive bodies so that Brazil can achieve zero deforestation by 2030. “Strengthening public policies focused on socio-biodiversity economies is essential to guarantee the regeneration of the biome, which is why we are collaborating on this policy,” explains Laura Souza, executive secretary of ÓSocioBio.
The Observatory's contributions focused on axes I and IV. "Our effort was aimed at emphasizing that traditional peoples and communities possess knowledge and land management practices that do not degrade natural resources. In doing so, they help conserve our biodiversity heritage in this highly threatened biome," comments the executive secretary.
One of the group's main recommendations was the inclusion of the word "sociobiodiversity" immediately after the term "sociobioeconomy" throughout the document, to demarcate a conceptual and practical position regarding economic activities in the territories of traditional peoples and communities, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in... National Plan for the Promotion of Socio-biodiversity Product Chains, from 2009, which is linked to the promotion of sustainable development, income generation and social justice in Brazil.
Recommendations
ÓSocioBio recommended, in Axis I – Objective 1. To promote socio-bioeconomy and socio-biodiversity, sustainable forest management, and the recovery of deforested or degraded areas: focused on the need to expand the rights and spaces for the production of socio-biodiversity and socio-bioeconomy."The inclusion of the final wording with “[…] managed and produced by indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and communities, and family farmers (PIPCTAFs)”."
In the Summary Table of strategic objectives, expected results and lines of action, the following recommendations were presented (in green):
| Summary Table Axis I – Sustainable Productive Activities | ||
| Strategic objectives | Expected results | Course Guidelines |
| 1. To promote socio-bioeconomy and socio-biodiversity, sustainable forest management, and the recovery of deforested or degraded areas. primarily in areas managed and produced by PIPCTAFs | 1.1 Bioeconomy, socio-biodiversity and agroecological transition expanded and strengthened in the Cerrado | 1.1.1. Develop and implement programs and actions to support the bioeconomy. and sociobiodiversity in the Cerrado |
| 1.1.2. Strengthen, expand e suit government procurement policies and programs (PAA, PNAE, PGPM, PGPM-Bio and Family Farming Seal) | ||
| 1.1.3. Promote sustainable business Strengthening the bioeconomy and socio-biodiversity, agroecological transition and ethnodevelopment. valuing the ways of life of indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and communities, and family farmers in their territories | ||
| 1.1.4 Create formal green jobs that consider cultural and social diversity, providing legal support to extractive workers, and recognizing the conservation and ecosystem service promotion services that extractivists perform. | ||
| 1.1.5 Creation of climate insurance for PIPCTAFs (Products for the Protection of Agricultural and Forest Products) as a crop guarantee based on the policy of guaranteeing minimum prices for socio-biodiversity products in cases of climatic events such as: droughts, floods, heavy rains, extreme temperatures, fires, among others. | ||
| 1.2. Nature tourism, ethnotourism, and regenerative tourism in the Cerrado region promoted and enhanced. | 1.2.1. Expand and support nature tourism, rural tourism, community-based tourism and tourism in protected areas, valuing the practices and knowledge of PIPCTAFs | |
| 1.3. Extended sustainable forest management | 1.3.1 Promote sustainable forest management and good production practices for the economic exploitation of native timber and non-timber species and fauna, such as the production of honey and pollen from native bees, among others | |
| 1.4. Forest restoration through concessions and silviculture of native species and recovery initiatives.
native vegetation implemented |
1.4.1. To promote forest restoration and the recovery of native vegetation, contributing to the reduction of degradation, the conservation of biodiversity, and the increase of carbon stocks, the maintenance of ecosystem services, Job and income generation in the Cerrado e The appreciation of the traditional knowledge and ways of life of PIPCTAFs. | |
| 2. To encourage sustainable agricultural activities. | 2.1. Expanded sustainable agriculture | 2.1.1. To encourage livestock farming and sustainable grain production, forestry and other monocultures, by reducing pressure on critical deforestation areas, thus ensuring the social, environmental, and economic promotion of agriculture, rrespecting protected areas and their buffer zones. |
| 2.1.2. Strengthening and expanding access to markets and public policies for PIPCTAFs | ||
| 2.1.3. Disseminate the integrated fire management approach, including prevention practices, alternatives to the use of fire, and the replacement of fire use for agricultural purposes. | ||
| 3. Expand research, knowledge production, training, and technical assistance for sustainable productive activities. | 3.1. Research, training, capacity building and knowledge for expanded and disseminated use and conservation | 3.1.1. To produce knowledge, disseminate information, raise awareness, train and empower different social agents regarding the importance of conservation, of ecosystem services and payments for environmental services, from adopting sustainable production practices and consumption to reducing deforestation and forest fires in the Cerrado. |
| 3.2. Strengthened and expanded technical assistance with inclusive service and diversified practices. | 3.2.1. Strengthen and expand the provision of technical assistance through implementing entities of ATER (Technical Assistance and Rural Extension), ensuring inclusive service and the incorporation of assistance models focused on sustainable practices, conservation, and deforestation reduction. | |
| 3.2.2 Expand and improve the ATER (Technical Assistance and Rural Extension) suitable for PIPCTAFs (Programs for the Integration of People with Disabilities in Family Farming) to access policies.
public institutions that support the production and marketing of their products. |
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| 3.2.3 Develop an ATER program for young people in order to guarantee their continued presence and qualified rural succession. | ||
| 3.2.4 Training of ATER technicians to support PiPCTAFs and to work with products from the socio-bioeconomy and socio-biodiversity of the Cerrado. | ||
| 3.3. Rights and guarantees of access to natural resources strengthened and expanded in coordination with the states. | 3.3.1 Expand access for PIPCTAFs to the natural resources necessary for food security and family income. | |
| Summary Table Axis IV – Regulatory and Economic Instruments | ||
| Strategic objectives | Expected results | Course Guidelines |
| 12. Create, improve, and implement regulatory and economic instruments for controlling deforestation. | 12.11. Constitutional Amendment Proposals, Bills or other legal acts relevant to the prevention and control of deforestation and forest fires submitted | 12.11.1. To coordinate efforts for the approval of Senate Bill No. 1.818/2022, which deals with the National Policy on Integrated Fire Management, and to improve the sub-legal regulations related to Integrated Fire Management. |
| 12.11.2. Review provisions of the Environmental Crimes Law, the Forestry Code, and the Decree
Law No. 6.514/2008 to increase penalties and punishment related to environmental crimes against flora, including forest fires. |
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| 12.11.3. Approve Constitutional Amendment Proposal No. 504/2010, which establishes the Cerrado as a national heritage site, and define specific legislation for the sustainable use, conservation, and recovery of the biome. | ||
| 12.11.4 Conduct advocacy efforts for Complementary Bill 150/2022, which establishes the National Bioeconomy Policy, in conjunction with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
| 12.11.5 Conduct advocacy efforts for Bill 1457/2023 in the Chamber of Deputies, which amends Law No. 12.512 of 2011, to expand the Environmental Conservation Support Program with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
| 12.12.4 Conduct advocacy efforts for Bill 1506/2022, which amends Law 14.119/2021 to allow resources from the conversion of simple fines to be allocated to payment for environmental services actions with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
| 12.12.5 Conduct advocacy efforts for Bill 3962/2019, which addresses access to genetic resources, the protection of and access to associated traditional knowledge, and the sharing of benefits for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, in conjunction with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
| 12.13. Regulated Brazilian market for emissions reduction (MBRE) | 12.13.1. Regulate the carbon market in Brazil, defining rules and operating standards. | |
| 12.13.2 Conduct advocacy efforts for Bill 2229/2023, which deals with the regulation of the Brazilian Emissions Reduction Market – MBRE, with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
| 12.13.3 Conduct advocacy efforts for Bill 412/2022, which deals with the regulation of the Brazilian Emissions Reduction Market – MBRE, with civil society organizations and the Observatory of Socio-biodiversity Economies (ÓSocioBio). | ||
Phases
The Federal Government launched the Phase 1 The Cerrado PPC (2010-2011) was developed amidst discussions of the National Climate Change Plan and the actions presented by Brazil at COP 15 in 2009. During this phase, actions were distributed across four axes: Protected Areas and Territorial Planning; Monitoring and Control; Promotion of Sustainable Productive Activities; and Environmental Education.
In your 2nd Phase (2014-2015), The Environmental Education axis ceased to exist, even though actions related to the theme were present in the other three axes. Phase 3 (2016-2020), in addition to maintaining the three axes from the previous phases, an axis was created to bring together efforts to develop norms and economic, fiscal, and tax instruments that can contribute to combating deforestation in all its dimensions, both prevention and control. This axis included innovative initiatives related to the other axes, but specifically to address the development of associated normative and economic acts.
Cerrado
The biome occupies 23,3% of the national territory and is present in all Brazilian regions, covering parts of the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Bahia, Piauí, Maranhão, Rondônia, Pará, Tocantins and the Federal District (IBGE, 2019). It has distinct ecosystems, with a strong presence of traditional peoples and communities who manage socio-biodiversity products.
Text: Dominik Giusti with information from PPCerrado