The World Bank defended that the review of the Amazon’s growth model will enable greater protection of the forest and biodiversity. The document “Delicate Balance for the Brazilian Legal Amazon: An Economic Memorandum”, released by the institution this Tuesday (9), points out that deforestation in the region is linked to activities such as livestock, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and mining. According to the publication, the increase in deforestation could lead the forest to a point where it would no longer be possible to reverse its harmful effects. The institution points out that deforestation puts the value of the standing forest in Brazil at risk, estimated at more than 317 billion dollars a year. This value would be equivalent, according to the document, to up to seven times the estimated value of private exploitation linked to extensive agriculture, logging or mining. The so-called “value of the standing forest” refers to the money circulating through the exploitation of services such as tourism or the production of non-timber products, in addition to carbon storage. “As a public good, the value of the Brazilian rainforest includes its ecosystem services, which, for the South American region alone, are estimated at 20 billion dollars annually. These services include the rain necessary for agriculture in the region and protection against soil erosion and fires”, says the study. “The global public values associated with the standing forest are even greater, mainly due to the role of the Legal Amazon as a carbon sink: the annual value of carbon storage is estimated at 210 billion dollars, with the option and existence value linked to the biodiversity and forest cover adding another 75 billion dollars. The sustainable private use values of the standing forest are estimated at 12 billion dollars annually. Therefore, the cost of inaction is high, both in the Amazon Forest and in the other biomes of the Legal Amazon”, he adds. Elaborated over three years, the material also says that the increase in income of the population of the Legal Amazon is directly related to greater protection of the forest, traditional ways of life and reduction of deforestation. To this end, the document highlights the need to encourage greater productivity growth, both in Brazil and in the Amazonian states. For the bank, this increase in productivity in rural and urban areas will require a structural transformation. The study argues that poverty reduction in the region must be linked to a development model that is not based solely on the extraction of natural resources. “Long-term success in combating deforestation will require a broader structural transformation of the economy, which reduces the focus on the agricultural frontier, through strengthening the manufacturing and service sectors,” said World Bank Director for Brazil Johannes Zutt, during the presentation of the document. Rural credits The document also states that rural credit policies promote agriculture inefficiently due to both the fragmentation of credit programs and the distortions arising from their linkage, which would reduce productivity. The text defends the adoption of rules to reduce the direct impact of rural credit on deforestation. It also preaches that, in order to generate agricultural growth with environmental and fiscal sustainability, government support for agricultural finance must focus on fiscal support for smaller and more productive farmers, in addition to reviewing subsidies and incentives for loan programs for large agricultural properties . In such cases, targeting should focus on activities such as low carbon agriculture and agroforestry methods. “In relation to the double objective of meeting the global demand for food and curbing deforestation, agricultural intensification assumes an important role, as it implies that more demand can be met with the same amount of land. This memo demonstrates that promoting agricultural productivity gains throughout Brazil increases food production and reduces deforestation. The main reason is that most of this increase in production comes from the more consolidated agricultural regions of Brazil, where deforestation is less of a concern because there are few natural forests left and land markets are relatively mature”, says the World Bank. Land market The bank says it is necessary to correct “distortions” in the land market, which encourage the current growth model, many of them linked to the colonization process in Brazil or its historical industrial and commercial policies. Among the points listed are, for example, the reduction of land insecurity, with the definitive titling of land for settlers; inadequate land taxation; deficiencies in the application of legislation that provides for the preservation of the integrity of protected areas or indigenous territories; and the guarantee that at least 80% of private properties in the Amazon biome remain preserved. The missing piece in this puzzle would be this structural transformation, that is, what underlies development, essentially this shift from agricultural production to more sophisticated economic activities. That is why the report also shows the role of small and large cities in the development of the Amazon, said economist and coordinator of the report, Marek Hanusch. Another highlighted point is the need to allocate land awaiting designation, such as conservation units, indigenous lands, agrarian reform settlements, land subject to land regularization or another category of possession. These non-designated areas have higher rates of deforestation linked to land grabbing. “A more balanced growth model and a policy focused on agricultural intensification are internally compatible and can create a more favorable environment for land regularization that favors more strongly the conservation of natural lands instead of land grabbing and extensive agriculture. Funding for conservation could provide further incentives.” Transport The bank also defends a reduction in transport costs, especially with the reduction in road construction and the expansion of waterways, as they are an effective and relatively economical means of transporting goods, “and may even help to reduce costs related to the distance from Legal Amazon to other markets in the country”. “Waterways are important for not having to build roads, which increase deforestation,” said Hanusch. Indigenous Peoples The document also talks about the need for greater attention to traditional peoples, such as the quilombolas, and indigenous peoples. This last group adds up to around 380,000 people, which is equivalent to 1.5% of the population of the Legal Amazon, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The text emphasizes that the preservation of traditional ways of life constitutes an added wealth of the region and points out the need to develop mechanisms to reward these groups for their role in environmental preservation. “Several indigenous communities still live in complete isolation in remote parts of the forest. Other traditional groups in the Legal Amazon are the riverside and quilombola communities. These groups tend to maintain strong cultural ties with the region’s natural lands. At the same time, they tend to have lower incomes and more precarious access to public services. Inclusive development in the Legal Amazon must pay close attention to the traditional peoples of the region, regardless of whether they choose to adopt urban life, maintain their traditional rural way of life, or both,” says the document.
Agência Brasil
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