By Kate Rintoul, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Legal Land Program headed by the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) has allocated 3.28 million acres of federal land in Acre, Amazonas, Pará and Rondônia for land reform and environmental the conservation of the environment.
Speaking at a public meeting, the Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, stressed that the decision announced on Wednesday (August 27th) contributes to the stability of the Amazon and ensures that rules over land ownership are respected.
“We’re regulating areas of the Union in the Amazon. Areas will receive greater care, will be better used and may be applied in development projects to provide sustainably,” said the minister.
The MDA has allocated three million hectares for the Ministry of Environment, which will be transformed into environmental conservation areas. This amounts to 2.6 million hectares in Amazonas, 411,000 in Para and 12,000 in Rondônia. A further 155,000 hectares were transferred to the government of Acre, also for environmental preservation.
The Environment Minister, Izabella Teixeira, highlighted the importance of the land. “The areas are for the Forest Service, to ensure the sustainable exploitation of timber, and the Chico Mendes [a Brazilian rubber tapper] Institute. Both will provide research for the creation of conservation areas, “he said.
The MDA has also allocated 62,500 hectares to eight hundred families living in the Amazon to expand the legal reserve of the Acari Settlement Project in the municipalities of Borba, New Aripuanã and Apuí. In Para 23,500 hectares were given to two hundred families as part of the mountain projects in the municipality of Ituíba and Sustainable Development II Castanheira, Senador Jose Porfirio.
The ministry also granted 7,900 acres to the city of Itupiranga and 42,600 hectares to New Repartimento, both in Pará. Another 7.2 hectares were delivered to farmers Mauritius and Rodrigues de Souza Elizete Pereira de Oliveira, who live in Itinga municipality in Maranhão.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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