Project to reduce areas of the Brazilian Amazon to be vetoed by Governor

By Ana Cláudia Leocádio – From Cenarium

BRASÍLIA (DF) – The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (União), announced on Monday, the 20th, that he will veto the entire Complementary Bill (PLC 18/2024), which proposes the reclassification of a large area of the Amazon biome into the Cerrado biome within the state. The proposal was approved by the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso (AL-MT) on the 8th and was awaiting the governor’s sanction.

According to Mendes, after meeting with representatives of the state’s productive sector, members of the AL-MT, and reviewing the technical report on PLC 18, he decided to veto 100% of the text until a new proposal on the matter can be developed.

PLC 18/2024 is the result of the sixth amendment to the original project sent by the Mato Grosso government to AL-MT in May 2024. The initial proposal was limited to altering § 1, Article 62 of the State Environmental Code, which states: “The restoration or regeneration of the legal reserve must be adjusted through a Commitment Agreement signed between the interested party and the Subprocuracy General for Environmental Defense.”

The government’s proposal introduced a new provision defining “the classification of vegetation physiognomy for the purpose of legal reserves on rural properties,” to be conducted by the environmental agency based on the vegetation map of the State’s Socioeconomic and Ecological Zoning. This map would require approval by AL-MT. In the interim, technicians were to use the Vegetation Map from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), at a 1:250,000 scale.

The final text, drafted by state representative Ondanir Bortolini, known as Nininho (PSD), would have reduced the required percentage of legal reserves on rural properties to 35% for the Cerrado biome, while maintaining the 80% requirement for the Amazon rainforest.

Nininho’s Substitute Bill 6 to the original project aimed to amend established provisions in the Mato Grosso Environmental Code and introduced new articles, including one that eliminated the detailed analysis of vegetation physiognomy as a technical criterion. The proposal also required a technical report, prepared by an environmental agency, in cases where field-observed vegetation differed from the official map.

The text, set to be vetoed, would have made it easier for property owners to compensate for legal reserves by allowing them to acquire surplus areas from other properties to regularize their situation. Additionally, they would have been able to request the reanalysis of previously denied opinions under the new criteria established by the law.

For the governor of Mato Grosso, distortions and “fake news” surrounding the project prompted him to veto the proposal until a revised version could be presented for consideration by lawmakers.

In an interview with the “Folhamax” portal, Mato Grosso Secretary of the Environment, Mauren Lazzaretti, emphasized the need for updates but insisted they must be based on technical analysis. According to her, IBGE’s databases provide a better reference for analyzing the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR). “Legislative changes must simplify processes while ensuring legal and technical security. Therefore, I believe the working group will not only study this change but also propose transition rules that ensure environmental protection and sustainable production”, she said.

Nininho Steps Back and Awaits New Proposal

On his official website, Deputy Nininho announced that he had withdrawn his proposal after a meeting with the governor made it clear that the project, in its current form, could be misinterpreted. “We need a project that is solid, technically grounded, and has a better chance of being approved without controversies,” he explained.

According to the lawmaker, the working group will be led by Secretary Mauren Lazzaretti, in collaboration with the State Legislative Assembly, the Mato Grosso Parliamentary Agricultural Front, Agro Forum, Famato, productive sector entities, and representatives of rural producers and environmental groups.

“Ms. Mauren also recognizes that the current situation creates legal uncertainty and that it is necessary to clarify the boundaries between the Cerrado and the Forest. She will lead this process, and with her extensive experience, she will undoubtedly contribute significantly to reaching a definitive resolution for the region, meeting the interests of all stakeholders”, Nininho stated.

He further explained that the project’s goal is to address a historical misclassification of vegetation physiognomy in the state. “Currently, Sema (Secretariat of Environment) uses data from Radam Brasil at a scale of 1:1,000,000. This broad scale creates the impression that all areas are forests. By adopting IBGE’s database, with a scale closer to 1:250,000, we can more accurately distinguish between Cerrado and forest”, the lawmaker concluded.

Estimated Deforestation of 5.5 Million Hectares

The Socio-Environmental Observatory of Mato Grosso (Observa-MT) described the approval of PLC 18 as a significant setback in the fight against deforestation. The organization estimated that reclassifying Amazon forests as Cerrado would enable the deforestation of 5.5 million hectares of forests, equivalent to 15 times the size of Cuiabá or the size of Croatia. In total, the change would affect 9.6 million hectares, representing over 10% of Mato Grosso’s territory.

Following the project’s approval, Observa-MT appealed to the governor to veto the entire text. The estimated additional deforestation in Amazonian forest formations with the law’s implementation would amount to 3,758,739 hectares, while for the Cerrado, it would reach 1,795,090 hectares, according to the organization’s document.

Beyond altering the reference maps for the proposed reclassification, Observa-MT highlighted the wording of Article 62-B, which proposed “using only the concept of biome, combined with an exclusive criterion: tree height to determine whether the area’s vegetation is forest or Cerrado.”

“Although the Cerrado is predominantly a savanna, it contains physiognomies that can be classified as ‘forests.’ Ignoring this type of vegetation in public policies jeopardizes the conservation of ecologically significant areas,” Observa-MT emphasized in a statement.

Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves