'Giving away land is an incentive for deforestation, it makes it even cheaper than it already is to clear forest for pasture rather than recover abandoned land,' said Mr Brenda Brito, executive director at the research institute Imazon. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
BRASILIA - A law expected to be approved by Brazil's Congress granting 1.2 million people and numerous companies titles to a huge chunk of the Amazon rain forest could provoke a new wave of land-grabbing and deforestation, conservationists warn.
Over three decades, settlers, farmers and speculators have occupied, stolen and sold state land they did not legally own, fueling the destruction of about a fifth of the world's largest rain forest. Land titles are often nonexistent or fake.
LOOPHOLES IN THE BILL
The distribution of plots will be based on good faith affidavits that people occupy an area. Authorities will not carry out on-site checks of such claims on plots under 400 hectares.
Supporters of the bill, which allows individuals to apply for up to 2,500 hectares of land, say local residents will act as watchdogs.
The government says the new bill will benefit impoverished peasants who were encouraged to settle the Amazon during the 1964-85 military dictatorship but were never provided with legal support, public security or financial aid.
Clear land ownership would improve the implementation of public policies by allowing authorities to impose fines on people or companies that deforest and provide tax incentives for sustainable development, Mr Minc said.
But the bill has provoked outrage among environmental groups, which see it as a major setback to efforts to protect the forest. They say there are contradictions and flaws in the bill that will fuel deforestation.
'Giving away land is an incentive for deforestation, it makes it even cheaper than it already is to clear forest for pasture rather than recover abandoned land,' said Mr Brenda Brito, executive director at the research institute Imazon.
The bill, which was approved by the lower house of Congress last week but requires approval in the Senate, would grant more than 1.2 million people land titles totaling nearly 100 million hectares, an area almost the size of France and Spain.
Plots up to 100 hectares are free. Those up to 400 hectares cost little and larger ones will be auctioned or sold directly to claimants. -- REUTERS
