Investments of BRL 815 million from the Union with Municipalities Program for the Reduction of Deforestation and Forest Fires in the Amazon have led to a decrease in fires in 70 priority municipalities across the Amazon.

The program aims to strengthen federal cooperation and encourage local leaders to take the initiative in addressing the problem.

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During the public policy review ceremony on Tuesday (Mar. 31), Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva emphasized that the results demonstrate it is possible to combine conservation and development.

“Deforestation in the Amazon has fallen by 50 percent since 2022, while agribusiness has grown - we have opened more than 500 new markets since 2023.”

The funds were invested in more than 2,000 vehicles for enforcement, technical training for over 500 individuals, and compensation for 4,000 small farmers for environmental services.

In addition to the balance sheet, new contracts for land and environmental regularization, as well as the provision of technical assistance and rural extension services, were signed through the National Agency for Technical Assistance and Rural Extension (Anater).

The new investments, totaling BRL 75 million, will benefit approximately 32,000 rural properties in 48 municipalities across the states of Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Mato Grosso, Roraima, and Rondônia.

Program

Created in September 2023, the Union with Municipalities Program promotes federal cooperation to strengthen the control and monitoring of fires and deforestation in the Amazon.

Land and environmental regularization and vegetation restoration, supported by sustainable production, complement these efforts.

“With command and control, we address what must not happen. But mayors, quite rightly, were calling for a positive agenda to curb deforestation. Land and environmental regularization, for example, is a demand from everyone,” Minister Silva emphasized.

The funds invested in the program come from the Amazon Fund, the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, through other funds and public policies such as the Amazon Forest+ Project, which provides compensation for environmental services, including forest restoration and greenhouse gas emission reduction.