IDH delivers results to unlock agendas for environmental and land regularization in Mato Grosso

One of the main bottlenecks in promoting inclusion as well as the social and economic development of territories in Brazil is the difficulty in carrying out environmental and land regularization processes. The absence or lack of qualification of databases, the poor adoption of technology, and high costs make it difficult to move forward toward the effective implementation of public policies related to the topic, whose responsibility is shared between federal and state governments and can be addressed through multisectoral partnerships.

As a priority party in the strategy for landscape action in Mato Grosso, IDH has already delivered results that lead to the unblocking of bottlenecks, the development of investment opportunities, and which contribute to the achievement of the goals of the PCI Strategy and of the PCI Regional Compacts.

In partnership with the Juruena Local Administration, for example, IDH georeferenced the Vale do Amanhecer Settlement, which directly benefited 250 families who live in an area of 14 thousand hectares and whose main economic activity is the extraction and processing of Brazil nuts.

Settlement meeting to explain data collection process

The manager of public policy implementation at IDH, Alex Schmidt, explains that the next steps for the completion of the landholding regularization process will be supported by the Local Landholding Regularization Centre, by means of an agreement established with INCRA, as stated in the Titula Brasil Program.

Additionally, IDH also handed over to the local government the mapping of the entire area of the municipality with data already validated by Sema-MT, thereby making the Rural Environmental Registry and the environmental regularization process faster.

To illustrate the importance of such deliveries, it is worth noting that the Vale do Amanhecer Settlement Project was established in 1989. Since then, the families have endured the insecurity of not having the ownership of their land. As a result, they are unable to gain access to credit and financing mechanisms, which hinders economic development and the improvement of the quality of life.

“Through this work, IDH has made it possible for the municipality to progress with the environmental and land regularization of all rural properties in Juruena, including each plot of land in the Vale do Amanhecer settlement,” explained Alex Schmidt, manager of public policy implementation at IDH.

The IDH has also delivered databases to the municipalities of Cotriguaçu, Sorriso and Barra do Garças, which have PCI Regional Compacts. More than three million hectares have been mapped and validated by Sema-MT to advance the CAR agenda. “This information is available, free of charge, at the Producer Service Center (CAP), created by IDH, in partnership with the municipalities. A specialized technician provides assistance at CAP, and farmers can seek information on environmental and land regularization, in addition to opportunities in projects.

Key Topics for the Vale do Juruena and Sorriso PCI Regional Compacts

Environmental and land tenure regularization is considered one of the top priority topics of the Conservation and Inclusion axes of the PCI Vale do Juruena e Sorriso Compact. The subject was widely discussed during the face-to-face meeting of the Compact’s Steering Committee, held in May. The Compact’s executive secretary, Antonio Horta, mentioned that access to credit and technical assistance for local associations and cooperatives are among the main points to be addressed by signatories.

The Steering Committee of the Sorriso Compact also held a face-to-face meeting last month. The Compact’s executive secretary, Emanuele Olsen, noted that the engagement of the private sector and the definition of how these companies can support existing initiatives to expedite the delivery of goals, were the main points of discussion.

The purpose of the meetings was to make a general balance of last year’s actions, record and discuss new demands and suggestions, while identifying the role of partners and signatories. Based on this, they will build an Action Plan for the Compacts.