The success of social justice and environmental conservation in the Amazon is largely dependent on the land tenure challenge endured for centuries in the region. In total, the biome has 118 million hectares of public land without a precise destination – an equivalent area to France’s and Germany’s territories added together (the two largest countries in Europe). Of this total, around 59.5 million hectares – 50.4% – may  be turned into protected areas. 

Another 56.4 million hectares already show signs of forest degradation. However, upon regularization, the potential for revenue to public coffers is up to R$470 billion, funds that could be allocated to environmental conservation practices. The conclusions and data are part of the study “Mesmo jogo, novas regras: uma solução fundiária para a Amazônia” [Same game, new rules: land solution for the Amazon], developed and recently launched by Instituto Escolhas.

This reality is a propeller for violent conflicts, invasions and deforestation. In Pará, the Amazonian state that is home to the second largest portion of areas subject to allocation, there are almost 7 million hectares that can be used as zones for environmental preservation. The number is equivalent to 11.7% of the entire area of the Brazilian biome that can be immediately converted into conserved territory.

Solution

The Instituto Escolhas develops a research in charge of mapping the recurrent cycle in the land history of the Amazon: invasion, deforestation and land titling. The solution to contain the progression of the problem found by researchers is the development of a new Land Framework. The practice consists of allocating public territories in a responsible, democratic and sustainable way, prioritizing those who need it most and conserving forests.

Sergio Leitão, executive director of Instituto Escolhas, emphasizes that this is one of the main issues to be resolved, as it is at the root all other problems in the biome, such as attacks against human rights. “When you look at Brazil, especially the Amazon, everything has a name: land. The ammount of areas in the region, whose origin nobody knows, needs to be discussed in light of a national agreement”, he says.

“A great political agreement so that we can establish a line from which replicating the cycle of invading, deforesting and being awarded a title is no longer acceptable. It provides a kind of passport: what used to be public becomes private and the person ends up profiting at the expense of the state's assets. We need to discuss the land issue so that it stops being a repetition of everything we see happening”, adds Leitão.

Establishing land boundaries requires agreement between leaders

Establishing parameters for the land issue, which are beneficial to the environment and to the society as a whole, needs to go through all the leaders involved: indigenous people, peasants, representatives of family farming, the Public Ministry and the Federal Government. Sergio Leitão points out that this discussion can prevent the problem from being replicated.

“And this has to do with one issue: if it is true that every justification for occupying, deforesting and obtaining title was precisely because Brazil needed to produce, today it is no longer a present reality. We have already deforested so much, we no longer need to deforest to produce, we already have enough open areas. If this is true, we no longer have to watch this process of dilapidation of public assets”, he explains.

Priorities

When identifying public lands in the Amazon without a precise destination, Instituto Escolhas points out that the priority in the action plan is the conservation of the 59.5 million hectares. These lands would be converted to quilombola, riverside and community possessions. “And in the remaining 56.4 million hectares [which show deforestation], we will check who the right belongs to and sell the land at market price”, says Sergio.

“Around 59 million [hectares] still have preserved forests and 56 [million hectares] already have more intense signs that the area already has an occupation process taking place. The Amazon is home to the last frontier of public lands with forests that are coveted to be converted to agriculture. If you don’t solve the land problem, you won’t solve the problem of deforestation nor the war in the countryside”, he concludes.

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Land instability dates from the military dictatorship period

The controversial issue of land allocation in the Amazon is not new. The historical context of the biome includes a process of private incorporation of the territory, which began during the military dictatorship (1970 to 1985). At that time, the area - which had been neglected by Brazil - had 65 million hectares of forest allocated to land properties through a series of institutional devices, such as Operation Amazônia.

The movement, according to Professor Francisco de Assis, researcher at the Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos (NAEA/UFPA), became known as the land “big bang” and is related to the formation of the uncontrolled development of the environment use. “We still feel the effects today. But, recently, between the 2006 and 2017 agricultural censuses, there was a new wave of appropriation of [around] 15 million hectares”, he says.

The period of the military regime corresponded to the greatest expansion of land properties. Professor Assis took part in a study that shows that, in this phase, the conversion of 65 million hectares from public to private property corresponded to 81% of the privatized area in the region until 2017 being 61% of them over a thousand hectares large.

"These two major waves of private land appropriation lie at the heart of a colossal private control over vast areas. These lands came from public heritage. The majority of them were appropriated through lots, extensions, particular volumes... Today, 80 million hectares of the Amazon are probably of illegal origin, leading to a deepening of land ownership inequalities in Brazil," Francisco concludes.

Challenge

The land privatization process comes with an aggravating factor: the professor explains that the transformations that will occur in the area are subject to the logic of the landowners. "This has enormous consequences for everything. Regardless of whether the land is used for soybeans, cattle... The first major problem is the transformation of forested land into non-forested land [resulting in deforestation], decided based on the logic of hefty profits," he concludes.

Retired woman waited 40 years for land regularization

The struggle of retired Oci Lima to obtain land regularization lasted 40 years. Since 1983, she and her family have lived in the Jaderlândia II neighborhood in Ananindeua, in the Metropolitan Region of Belém (RMB). At the time they moved in, the land was an invasion area - a scenario that required the removal of some trees. "I raised all my children here. The house was made of wood, we walked through the mud...," she recalls.

Oci is 74 years old. The regularized land is in an urban area and measures 26m by 6m - previously called Jardim Europa. She remembers that many families who arrived with hers gave up on the land title due to the delay. “The title was a victory for all of us. I waited 40 years to get this title. So many people gave up, sold the land, moved away, and are now living in rented properties. Now, we have our own land.”

"This area used to be all bushes, a dumping ground for women, really. When we arrived here, we found women's clothes, sandals... It was all just bushes. In front of the house, when it stopped raining, we could see various animals because it flooded a lot. We had to join efforts with the neighbors at the time to build bridges. We cut down the açaí trees to make these bridges. It was all very precarious, there was no electricity, nothing," Oci concludes.

CAR

Oci's land regularization is part of the more than 17 thousand documents that the Instituto de Terras do Pará (Iterpa) [Land Institute of Pará] has already issued over more than five years operating in the state, including rural titles and urban lots. In 2023, the municipality that was the most benefited by the initiative was Abaetetuba, totaling more than a thousand land titles issued. However, this reality has not yet reached everybody. Roger de Renett has been waiting for the title for over a year. He already has the Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR) [Rural Environmental Registry], but the lack of the title has resulted in many problems.

The CAR is different from land regularization: the document is a record that, according to the Banco Nacional do Desenvolvimento (BNDES) [National Bank for Economic and Social Development], integrates environmental information related to the situation of permanent preservation areas (APP), legal reserves, forests, and remnants of native vegetation. The CAR is not to be confused with the land title, as it is essentially aimed at the environmental regularization of rural properties - the database is used for control, monitoring, and combating deforestation.

Roger is from the Netherlands and owns around 13 hectares on Cotijuba Island. All purchased from former residents of the region. Of this amount, 1 hectare will be used for the development of plantations, counting on technical assistance from the Empresa de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural do Estado do Pará (Emater) [Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company of the State of Pará] - which is currently returning to Mosqueiro and Outeiro with this project -, and the other part of land destined for environmental preservation. “I’ve been waiting [for the title] for over a year, but it’s not happening…”, he laments.

The lack of regularization has affected the progress of Roger's business: he is building an ecological lodge on the island and needs investment to continue the business. “The documentation was approved. We are waiting for a technician to visit, but he doesn't come. Land regularization will bring more security to us, because we can't get loans without it... The bank doesn't care. When we have a title, we value our land and it is easier for us to obtain resources and investments,” he says.

Overview of the land situation in the Amazon

• 118 million hectares is the total area of unallocated public lands in the Amazon, including those that have not yet been collected by the State;
• 59.5 million hectares that could be immediately allocated to the creation of protected territories. Of these, 54.5 million do not have CAR registration and 4.9 million do;
• 56.4 million hectares where land regularization could be assessed. Of these, 33.5 million are small occupations without recent deforestation, of which 78% are smaller than 100 hectares and 22.9 million require careful case studies or possible legislative changes for regularization, as they are large occupations and/or with recent deforestation.
• The land regularization of 56.4 million ha has the potential to raise up to R$470 billion for public coffers. This amount should form a fund aimed at creating new protected areas, such as Conservation Units, Indigenous Lands, quilombola territories and other traditional peoples and communities.

Source: Instituto Escolhas