MS suspends license for deforestation in the Pantanal – 08/17/2023 – Environment

A decree by the government of Mato Grosso do Sul suspended the granting of licenses or authorizations for deforestation in the Pantanal. The measure, published last Wednesday (16), will remain in effect until a new state law is enacted that will deal with the preservation and exploitation of the biome.

The forecast of the government of Mato Grosso do Sul is that the new legislation will be voted on by the end of this year.

According to the text published in the Official Gazette of the State, the granting of a license or prior authorization for the suppression of native vegetation in the Pantanal Plain Restricted Use Area —the name given to areas where ecologically sustainable exploration, such as ecotourism, is already permitted— and in the entire biome.

The measure, according to the decree, does not apply to undertakings considered to be of public utility or social interest, nor to the cleaning of native or exotic pastures. It can be done, for example, the removal of invasive species in places that were previously proven to be clean fields.

Governor Eduardo Riedel (PSDB) had announced the publication of the decree on the 14th, after a meeting with representatives of NGOs, ruralists, Pantanal people and parliamentarians from the federal and state benches.

A Sheet Riedel said that the elaboration of the Law of the Pantanal, as the new legislation has been called, will be proposed, based on the debate with the productive, environmental sectors, residents of the region, among others. Mato Grosso do Sul accounts for two thirds of the area of ​​the Pantanal (the rest belongs to Mato Grosso).

“Our great challenge here in Mato Grosso do Sul is to show that development and preservation can go hand in hand. It is not easy to make a decision like this, as we know how much it impacts the lives of many who live in the Pantanal, but it is necessary at the moment”, said the governor.

The decree was considered a positive action by environmentalists, who criticized the previous legislation, from 2015. “As it was, it was lame”, said the president of SOS Pantanal, Alexandre Bossi.

André Luiz Siqueira, CEO of the NGO Ecoa, assesses that the old decree provoked “the frenzy of deforestation in recent years”.

According to data from the RAD (Annual Report on Deforestation), published by MapBiomas, the Pantanal reached its highest rate of deforestation from 2019 to 2022.

In the period, 101,000 hectares were deforested, almost the size of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Last year alone, there were 31,200 hectares, up 4.4% compared to 2021.

In the first half of 2023, according to MapBiomas, 25,500 hectares were deforested.

Siqueira also highlights the opportunity for a debate that includes all sectors, which would not have occurred in the decree published in 2015.

For him, the state’s agricultural sector resists legislation that imposes greater protection on the biome. “Now, starting from the Executive, with more tranquility for the debate, there may be a greater opportunity for advancement”, he says.

Siqueira and Bossi recall that the neighboring state, Mato Grosso, has a new law on the Pantanal in force since last year. The text made the ban on large-scale crops in the plains more explicit, such as soy and sugarcane, and vetoed the installation of alcohol plants. Therefore, say environmentalists, it can serve as a starting point for discussions in Mato Grosso do Sul.

State deputy Pedro Kemp (PT-MS) also sees Wednesday’s decree as positive, even if, in his assessment, it came after a threat of possible federal intervention in environmental legislation, which would be endorsed by Conama (National Council of Environment).

The council held a meeting in Brasília this Wednesday, hours after the publication of the state decree.

“The government took responsibility for itself, to be the protagonist of this discussion”, stated the deputy.

According to the governor, the discussion on the subject was already underway and would not be directly related to possible federal intervention.

In Kemp’s view, the Executive’s measure has the potential to break the resistance of parliamentarians linked to agribusiness agendas. “The idea is that it is not just an ecological sanctuary, but that people can survive in the Pantanal”, he says, who also sees the possibility of joining forces with deputies from Mato Grosso and creating a unique legislation.