RURAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY

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Martin Allison
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1 Rui Rezende AR RURAL ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRY The birth of rural property identity

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this publication is to disseminate guidelines regarding Brazil s Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR) a mandatory environmental registry system in which all rural

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this publication is to disseminate guidelines regarding Brazil s Cadastro Ambiental Rural (CAR) a mandatory environmental registry system in which all rural properties must be mapped and registered with governmental authorities. These guidelines are based on the methodology and technology developed over several years by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and its partners in planning and implementing CAR. Considered much more than a monitoring tool for environmental protection on rural properties, CAR is now required by Brazil s Forest Code, and is understood to be a fundamental instrument for recuperating land lost to habitat conversion and designating it for environmental conservation. In addition to strengthening sustainable land use in rural areas and consolidating regions of sustainable production, the CAR enables significant social, environmental, and economic gains. By disseminating this book, we hope to spread the message of CAR s benefits to stakeholders while providing critical actors with effective means and methods for implementation, and generate efficiencies in the efforts to achieve compliance across the rural properties of Brazil. Sharing the experiences and lessons learned also promotes restoration and conservation of native vegetation on private property. PreservaAmbiental.com

3 Small and large producers, rural associations and producer unions, municipal and state environmental agencies, businesses, financial institutions, universities, non-governmental organizations, and many others are part of the audience for this report, given their influence on the diverse production systems of the Brazilian rural economy. We hope to equip these actors with the know-how to support them in implementing the various phases of compliance on rural properties. The first chapter describes TNC s role in global environmental conservation, including a strategic focus in protecting Brazilian biodiversity through initiatives focusing on Responsible Agriculture, Water, Forests and Climate, Infrastructure, Indigenous Lands, and Protected Areas. Chapter Two details the concept of CAR as an instrument, and identifies the social and environmental benefits generated by this important tool established in the new Forest Code. The chapter also presents the strategic perspective adopted by TNC and its partners, revealing the organization s fundamental positions on issues related to the measures necessary for CAR to be successfully implemented. Furthermore, Chapter Two details the technological tools developed by TNC, such as CARGEO, LEGALGEO, and PAM, utilized by professionals and governmental agencies involved in the property registration process. These technologies have been applauded for being flexible and for generating precise, scalable, and reliable information. The chapter goes on to describe how these tools can support systematic analyses for establishing sustainable productive landscapes, propelled by increased implementation of CAR. The chapter also enumerates several important qualitative results achieved in recent years due to the Conservancy s successful positioning of the CAR and installation of these technological tools for landscape planning. The end of the chapter discusses the governmental strategies that have been adopted to reach national scale for CAR registration. Chapter three discusses the main conservation instruments related to CAR within the context of the Forest Code (Law of 2011). However, the book does not discuss in the new legislation itself in great detail. In chapter four, we present the methodology adopted by TNC and its partners for implementing the CAR, offering the reader a consolidated step-by-step summary of its operationalization in several municipalities. It includes phases such as the mobilization of all involved actors - from institutional preparations and agreements to awareness campaigns aimed at rural producers; uploading existing municipal maps and cartographic databases, sweep mapping the process of mapping individual properties when no municipal records exist, among other phases until private property records are eventually registered in the official state environmental systems. By disseminating this methodology, TNC does not intend to restrict the registration process, but to make it more effective and easier to navigate for the multiple users involved.

4 The fifth chapter seeks to address the primary objectives and challenges following the registration phase of privately-owned rural lands. CAR is discussed under the framework of landscape/territorial planning, promoting Good Agricultural Practices, Low Carbon Agriculture, encouraging the shift to a Green Economy, Payment for Environmental Services, and finally, of creating balanced rural settings. The last section of the chapter outlines the various activities in which TNC and its partners participated throughout the long and complex process of implementing CAR in some key Brazilian states. Lessons learned from Mato Grosso, Pará, and Bahia are included in this section as a reference for CAR s strengths and challenges in different states. As part of TNC s commitment to conservation while recognizing the need to meet Brazil s socioeconomic and development potential, we offer this collection of experiences to lay the groundwork and facilitate CAR s implementation throughout the country. Despite the static nature of any publication, this particular one tells a story in constant evolution and change in the quest for environmental conservation with production. We hope that with this book, the knowledge will spread exponentially to generate a conceptual and practical base understanding of another truly authentic Brazilian accomplishment: The CAR. Download the complete publication in Portuguese: DOWNLOAD

5 For more information, please contact The Nature Conservancy Brazil at Rafael Araújo

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