By Ana Mano and Leticia Fucuchima
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – A law passed by legislators in Brazil’s largest farm state Mato Grosso that changes the classification of endangered biomes inside state borders will likely weaken environmental protections there, according to climate activists.
Under the new law, areas currently located in the Amazon biome could be converted into Cerrado areas based on the height of trees. That means that Mato Grosso properties sitting on the Amazon biome, which have to keep 80% of native vegetation as per Brazil’s Forestry Code, could be converted into Cerrado areas, which have to preserve a much lower 35%.
The measure, approved in the first days of January, is the latest environmental blowback in Mato Grosso — which produces almost as much soybeans as Argentina and nearly a quarter of Brazilian fresh beef exports.
Suely Araujo, public policy coordinator at the Climate Observatory, called the law unconstitutional in a Monday interview, because it conflicts with federal statutes. She said it could be challenged in the courts.
“The new legislation could cause an increase in deforestation estimated at 5.2 million hectares… an area the size of Costa Rica,” IPAM, the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said in a statement.
The office of governor Mauro Mendes, which has yet to sign the bill into law, said it had proposed something entirely different from the text approved by the state legislature. It declined to comment on a potential veto, saying the bill is being analyzed by executive branch lawyers.
Pressure from farm groups to open up more areas for large scale agriculture projects is rising.
As a response, Mato Grosso recently passed a law removing tax breaks for grain traders enforcing the “soy moratorium,” a voluntary agreement whereby exporters ban farmers who cultivated soy in a deforested area after 2008.
Next month, the Supreme Court will rule on whether that law is constitutional.
(Reporting by Ana Mano and Leticia Fucuchima; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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