Content aims to guide rural landowners and land occupiers from municipalities in the Doce River Basin regarding the environmental regularization of their properties
The State Forestry Institute (IEF-MG) and the Renova Foundation are making available a booklet on the Environmental Regularization Program (PRA-MG) to guide rural landowners and land occupiers in the Doce River basin in the environmental regularization of their properties. Titled How to improve my land and the environment, the material gathers information about registration, concepts of Permanent Protection Area (APP), Legal Reserves (RL) and Restricted Use Areas (AUR), in addition to a step-by-step guide on how to join to the program, deadlines and benefits. To download the booklet, click here or visit the IEF website.
The booklet also provides information about the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR), legally required in Brazil and the gateway to joining the Environmental Regularization Program. Mandatory for all rural properties, registration is also a prerequisite for access to the Renova Foundation’s Revegetation, rockfill and other methods,Tailings Management and Resumption of Agricultural activities programs.
In Minas Gerais, the PRA is intended for people who wish to regularize their rural property due to environmental liabilities generated until July 22, 2008, in PPAs and Legal Reserves, and until May 28, 2012, in Restricted Use Areas. According to the New Forestry Code, environmental liabilities are related to all unauthorized deforestation.
The material is one of the results of the Renova Foundation’s CAR and PRA Promotion Program which, to date, has supported around 600 properties in the Doce River basin. Fernanda Maia, an analyst at the Sustainable Development Management, who follows the program, talks about the importance of the booklet. “The material is important for the producer to pay attention to the deadlines and understand that the adequacy is a legal requirement that, if not minimally complied with, can lead to penalties by the environmental agency”, she explains. In addition to the availability on Renova’s and IEF’s websites, 3,500 copies will be distributed in the Doce River basin and directed to the public served by the program along the areas directly affected.
IEF-MG and Renova partnership
In partnership with the Renova Foundation, the IEF provides support and technical support to the Environmental Regularization Program, validates CAR and PRA development actions, promotes and facilitates the engagement of producers and ensures the assertiveness of the proposals in the areas to be mandatorily restored. The booklet is one of the deliverables of this agreement, which includes initiatives such as training and field days with rural producers, CAR promotion for traditional peoples and communities, training and qualification of IEF technicians and Renova technicians to formalize the PRA projects and validation analysis of 100% of the CARs promoted by Renova.
The Program
The Environmental Regularization Program (PRA-MG) brings together a set of actions that can be carried out on rural properties to maintain and recover Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs), Legal Reserves (RL) and Restricted Use Areas (AUR). In Minas Gerais, the PRA is intended for people who wish to regularize a rural property due to environmental liabilities generated until 07/22/2008, in PPAs and RLs, and until 05/28/2012, in AURs. According to the New Forestry Code of 2012, environmental liabilities are understood to be all unauthorized deforestation. In addition to the environmental benefits, joining the program brings advantages such as different deadlines for recovering these areas and the possibility of maintaining current use in most of them, aligning productivity, human well-being and nature conservation.