The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (União Brasil), sanctioned a law (11.861/2022) that makes agricultural activity more flexible in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso. The new rules, now in force, amend Law 8,830/2008 —known as the Pantanal Law— and have been contested by dozens of socio-environmental entities, who claim that the changes weaken the biome.
The government sanction, without vetoes to the text that arrived from the Legislative Assembly, was published in the Official Gazette of the state this Thursday (4).
Among the main changes are the permission for extensive livestock farming in permanent preservation areas and the implementation of cultivated pastures in up to 40% of the property area in the floodplain.
In a note published after the government sanction, Herman Oliveira, executive secretary of Formad (Forum Mato Grosso de Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento), says that the changes are a setback and increase the “socio-environmental degradation of an already fragile biome”.
After the bill was passed in the Assembly, Formad, which is made up of several entities, had already released a note of repudiation about the change in the Pantanal Law.
According to the forum, the changes implemented represent “the legal authorization of the degradation of the biome”: “[…] is an affront to the Brazilian Forest Code, and will harm water quality, animal and plant species, ecological balance and traditional and indigenous peoples of the largest floodplain in the world, the Pantanal, which is already threatened by an increasing loss of its surface. of water”.
Data from MapBiomas Água indicate that the Pantanal has lost 74% of its water surface since 1985.
Before the approval of the project in the Assembly, also in a note, Edilene Fernandes do Amaral, legal and articulation consultant for Observa-MT (Observatório Socioambiental de Mato Grosso, an entity that monitors legislative activity), stated that the changes could “significantly impact the biome , reducing protected areas”.
In recent years, the Pantanal has also suffered from fires. In 2020, the year in which the entire biome suffered from the flames, more than 40% of the Pantanal in Mato Grosso burned. In addition to the loss of fauna, flora and damage to rural landowners, smoke from fires threatens the health of the population.
Socio-environmental entities have also criticized the way in which the legislative process for amending the Pantanal Law was conducted.
Last month, Formad said, in a note, that it is “regrettable that the same haste with which the deputies put this agenda for deliberation and voting, in just over a month, is not seen in other demands of interest to society”.
Organizations, including Formad and Observa-MT, also claim that technical recommendations made by Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) were not considered and that there were no public consultations with affected populations.
“[…] the process of PL 561/2022 was characterized by procedural flaws, lack of social debate and lack of data on the biodiversity of the biome”, says a letter signed by socio-environmental entities.
