*By Nikole Cantoara
The CAR task force, held on July 9 and 10, was promoted by IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) in partnership with SAF/MA (Maranhão State Department of Family Farming) and the Brejo Municipal Department of Rural Development through the Sustainable Chains Project promoted by GIZ and the Maranhão government.
89 family farmers from the municipality of Brejo, in Maranhão, had the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) of their rural properties validated and updated during a joint environmental regularization effort. According to Larissa Viana, a technician from SAF/MA (Maranhão’s Secretary of State for Family Farming), a total of 172 services were provided. “Services such as registration, rectifications and technical guidance on the CAR,” says Viana.
The CAR is an environmental management tool that guarantees the regularization of rural property in accordance with the Forest Code (Law No. 12,651/2012). In addition to being an instrument for promoting environmental compliance with the preservation of APPs (Permanent Preservation Areas) and the maintenance or recovery of the legal reserve of rural properties, its registration and validation allows farmers to have access to public policies, rural credits, forest restoration programs and incentives for sustainable production.
“The environmental regularization task force aimed to strengthen family farming in the municipality of Brejo, and I would like to thank all our partners for their support and dedication, especially IPAM, thank you very much,” says Gildiedson Almeida, the municipality’s agriculture secretary. “More than just a document, the CAR represents the producer’s commitment to a sustainable production model, ” says Janine Castro, IPAM’s research analyst.
“It’s extremely important for rural producers to regularize their properties, I’m very grateful for this CAR task force,” said Marinho Júnior, one of the participating rural producers. According to Maria do Rosária da Silva, one of the farmers who also took part in the task force, “The activity was very important because it helped the people of Brejo a lot”, who until then had not been served by a service like this free of charge.
Sustainable Chains Project
The project “Governance and Socio-environmental, Legal and Territorial Security in the Eastern Region of Maranhão, Chapadinha Micro-region” aims to help strengthen the governance structure and include small farmers and traditional populations and communities in the sustainable agriculture and income generation agenda in the Chapadinha micro-region, in eastern Maranhão. This project is part of the Sustainable Chains Project, a cooperation between the Maranhão State Government and the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development (GIZ), with support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Communications Intern*