Brazilian Ministry of Environment issues notice to compensate settlers for reducing Amazon deforestation

On Wednesday, May 22nd, the International Day for Biodiversity (IDB), the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (Ministério do Meio Ambiente e Mudança do Clima - MMA) announced the selection process for land reform settlements that will benefit from projects under the Payment for Environmental Services (Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais - PSA) program. This initiative aims to pay members of the National Agrarian Reform Program (Programa Nacional de Reforma Agrária - PNRA) for providing socially beneficial environmental services, such as reducing deforestation and conserving native vegetation.

This initiative is part of the Program Uniting with Municipalities to Reduce Deforestation and Forest Fires in the Amazon (Programa União com Municípios pela Redução do Desmatamento e Incêndios Florestais na Amazônia), launched by the MMA in 2023 and is comprised of measures announced on IDB Day.

Anyone interested in applying for this program may register between June 15, 2024, and March 30, 2025. Approximately BRL 60 million ($11.6 million) is available for disbursement in two annual payments, in 2024 and 2025.

The call for proposals is part of the Floresta+ Amazônia project, funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The project is managed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the MMA.

Federal settlements in the Amazon that are established and recognized by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária – INCRA) and located in one of the 70 priority municipalities for deforestation prevention and control, as selected by the MMA, are eligible to apply.

AMOUNTS AND PAYMENT TERMS

Payments will be made according to the following criteria:

• Reduction in deforestation between 25% and 50% compared with the previous period: BRL 1,800.00 ($349) per provider.

• Reduction in deforestation between 51% and 75% compared with the previous period: BRL 2,400.00 ($465) per provider.

• Reduction in deforestation of over 75% compared with the previous period: BRL 3,600.00 ($698) per provider.

 The settlements must not be under embargo by the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Renováveis – IBAMA) and must demonstrate a 25% reduction in deforestation in 2023, as measured by the official rate of the Legal Amazon Deforestation Satellite Monitoring Project of the National Institute for Space Research (Projeto de Monitoramento do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal por Satélite – PRODES, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais – INPE), compared with 2022. The greater the reduction, the larger the disbursement.

In addition, they must have native vegetation covering no less than than 50% of their total area, according to 2022 PRODES/INPE data, and be registered in the Rural Environmental Registry (Cadastro Ambiental Rural - CAR) as a rural property in an agrarian reform settlement. 

According to the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Plano de Ação para Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal - PPCDAm), INCRA's land reform settlements account for a significant portion of deforestation. Through PPCDAm actions, there was a notable reduction in deforestation in 2023 in the settlements that had the highest deforestation rates in 2022.

Candidates must also be part of the PNRA program and cannot be beneficiaries of the Bolsa Verde Program.

View the MMA's presentation here.

Access photos from the event. 

For information on the application form and terms of participation, click here.