1. POS 01-01 FUELING LAND GRABBING OR PROMOTING LAND GOVERNANCE?
THE CASE OF THE TERRA LEGAL PROGRAM IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON
Author(s): Cabral, R. / Disarz, R. / Dumont, J. / Kupper, B.
Affiliation: Brazilian Government / SEAD / SERFAL
Author’s Address:
The main causes for illegal deforestation and increasing land conflicts have to do with weak land governance and the lack of clearly established property rights (Reydon, 2017, and Kupper et al., 2017). This is particularly true for the Amazon region, where large plots of public lands are lacking clear allocation and guaranteed use or property rights, as a result of its complex colonization history (Duchrow et al. 2016, Kupper et al. 2017).
In the year 2016 the deforestation rate in the Legal Amazon reached km², and km2 in 2017 (PRODES, 2018). In the year of were registered in Brazil 61 killings related to land conflicts , 48 thereof in the Legal Amazon. By September 2017, the numbers of land related killings reached already 59 in Brazil and 49 in the region (CPT, 2017).
In 2009, the Brazilian Government created the “Terra Legal program as one of the main strategies to combat deforestation” and to clarify the allocation of unassigned public federal lands in the Legal Amazon, as well as to survey and to regularize legitimate users in order to protect and guarantee their rights.
The objective of this poster is to analyze the internal procedures of land tenure regularization applied by Terra Legal in the light of the FAOs Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) based on a comparative analysis of the regulatory framework and procedures between federal and state level land institutions.
Terra Legal has coordinated the assignment of 18,3 millions hectares of land for public and social interests, georeferenced 59 millions hectares, and emitted almost land titles (including federal and state securities through covenants), basically to medium and small scale farmers.
The definition of the parameters for the comparative analysis aims to isolate two main variables related to land grabbing: consultation of social and environmental interests and historical occupation date.
The consultation of social and environmental interests, as shown in figure 1, impacts the five general principles of land governance, and guarantees priority allocation for public purposes.
The importance of the comparative analysis of the date of historical occupation is demonstrated by its direct relation with the grabbing of public lands, that can to induce more deforestation and conflicts. The more recent the occupation date adopted by the nine states of the Legal Amazon and Federal Government, the greater the likelihood of land regularization processes allowing the formalization of land grabbers.
RESULTS
INTRODUCTION
FEDERAL AC AM AP MA MT PA RO RR TO
Consultation of Interests
Yes No
Historical Occupation Date
2008
5 years
1 year
---
2009
0 or 5 years
Table 1: Comparative analysis of land regularization requirements in the Federal Government and States of the Legal Amazon - Interest Inquiry and Historical Occupation Date
Source: SERFAL/SEAD/GIZ, dated 06/02/2018.
Analyzing the historical occupation date of the approximately 20,000 land titles issued by the Terra Legal Program (Graph 1), titles, representing more than 70% of the total issued by the Program are historical occupations of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, coinciding with the Brazilian government's policy in that time of occupation of the Amazon.
These results allow the construction of important conclusions, especially when related to the size distribution (area) of the approximately titles issued by the Terra Legal Program since 2009 (Table 1).
More than 70% of the land titles issued were for agriculturists who have areas smaller than a fiscal module (equivalent to 100 hectares) and more than 30% of the area regularized by the Terra Legal Program concerns properties with an area of ​​less than 100 hectares.
< 1 MF
1 MF –
4 MF
> 4 MF
Total
Number of land titles per plot size
16.106
5.067
583
21.756
Number of land titles per plot size (in %)
74,0%
23,3%
2,7%
100,0%
Area per plot size
(in hectares)
Area per plot size (in %)
31,4%
44,5%
24,1%
The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the procedures and requirements of land tenure regularization as applied by Terra Legal and the state land institutes. The overall process is analyzed regarding its coherence with the VGGT (Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure), using its General Principles. The process of collecting information was conducted by analysing documents, registers and laws, administration of questionnaires and interviews with land institutions’ leaders and technicians.
The scope of comparative analysis is the Legal Amazon - a socio-geographic division in Brazil, with an area slightly over 5 million km², encompassing the states of Acre, Amazonas, Amapá, Maranhão (part), Mato Grosso (part), Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins.
A fraction of the study was selected for this poster considering mainly the impacts to the Responsible Governance of Tenure:
•Consultation of interests: consists in the verification of interests originating in the allocation of public lands. These interests may be environmental (creation of protected areas) and social (demarcation of indigenous lands or quilombolas territories);
•Historical occupation date: refers to the date of original occupation or land tenure by the applicant for land regularization
Table 2: Quantity of rural land titles emitted and corresponding area by plot size.
Source: Management System SERFAL/SEAD, dated 06/10/2017.
Graph 1: Distribution of securities issued by historical occupation date and current occupancy date.
Source: Management System SERFAL/SEAD, dated 07/02/2018.
MATERIALS | METHODS
This partial study tried to demonstrate the importance of land regularization for the promotion of a sustainable development model for the Amazon. The challenge of building an arrangement for land governance on the Amazonian continent needs to consider the dialogue with state level without losing sight of the macro guidelines established by the FAO Voluntary Guidelines.
In this sense the main conclusions are:
Necessities to promote the leveling of legal requirements to land regularization in the Legal Amazon;
The requirements analyzed for land regularization at the federal level show greater attention to combating deforestation and the grabbing of public lands;
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure can be perceived more clearly in the procedures adopted for federal public land allocation;
CONCLUSIONS
Recognize and respect all legitimate tenure right holders and their rights
Safeguard legitimate tenure rights against threats and infrigements
Promote and facilitate the enjoyment of legitimate tenure rights
Provide access to justice to deal with infringements of legitimate tenure rights
Prevent tenure disputes, violent conflicts and corruption 1 2 3 4 5
CONSULTATION OF INTERESTS
HISTORICAL OCCUPATION DATE
Guinding Principles of Responsive Tenure Governance
CPT. Atlas de Conflitos na Amazônia. Goiânia: 1a Edição, Setembro de 2017.
Duchrow, A., Lopes, S., Pires M., Orthega V. (2016) The Land Tenure Policy Dialogue in the Amazon – Harmonizing Legal Frameworks, Procedures and Information Systems for Public Land Governance. Paper prepared for presentation at the “2016 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY” The World Bank - Washington DC, March 14-18, 2016
Kupper, B., Dumont, J., Moreira O., Seibel P. and Reis, T. (2017) Protection And Sustainable Use Of Tropical Forests Need Land Tenure Regularization - Evidence From Brazil. Paper prepared for presentation at the “2017 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE
PRODES – Monitoramento da Floresta Amazônica Brasileira por Satélite – (2018)
Reydon, B.P., Fernandes, V.B., (2017) Brazilian Amazon Deforestation and land governance. Procedures of the Symposium on Land Consolidation and Land Readjustment for Sustainable Development. Apeldoorn. Netherlands
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenureof Land, Fisheries and Forests an the Context of National Food Security
LITERATURE CITED
Figure 1: Guinding Principles of Respsonsive Tenure Governance.
Source: FAO, 2012.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Subsecretaria de Regularização Fundiária na Amazônia Legal - SERFAL
Secretaria Especial de Agricultura Familiar e Desenv. Agrário - SEAD
GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH
Delegação da União Européia no Brasil – Cooperação
POS 01-01