Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry, Supply and Rural Development approved, on last Wednesday (26), the National Policy on Payment for Environmental Services creation that is going to offer money to people who preserve or recover the environment.

By this proposal, protection initiatives or soil renewing; biodiversity maintenance; gas emission control, caused by Greenhouse effect; water cycle maintenance, among others, will be paid. Program resources will be collected by a specific fund, and the value to be paid for preservation will be defined by a multidisciplinary committee.

The proposal still defines as a priority the payment for environmental services rendered in ecosystems under greater socio-environmental risk, and determines that only one who can participate of the program is whomever proving the regular property use or occupation.

“The idea is that it is not enough just to charge who pollutes or degrades; it is necessary to earmark resources to voluntarily guarantee environmental services offering, giving a practical nature to the provider-recipient principle”, Fábio Souto argued, who highlighted international and national experiences of payment for environmental services.

At Deputy Anselmo de Jesus’s evaluation, the option for incorporating the Executive’s project is based on the fact the Government’s text creates a fund for financing a payment policy for environmental services. “As the Executive is the politics having power to generate a financial source, it is natural its highlights", the Deputy said. According to him, its project spine is contemplated at the approved proposal.

Consensus
For Anselmo de Jesus, text approval at Committee on Agriculture shows that farmers and environmentalists have met a consensus on environmental services payment.

The proposal, according to him, meets producers and environmentalists’ interests, because there will not be anymore the agriculturist’s unfavorable position that uses to preserve compromising productive area income. “Let’s extinguish injustices between agriculturists who preserve their area and do not generate a familiar income and neighbors who devastate and earn more money”, he argued.

National experiences
Although not being regulated nationally, several initiatives of payment for environmental services already exist in Brazil. An example is the Socio-environmental Development Program of Rural and Familiar Production
(Proambiente) from Environment Ministry, which pays 1/3 of minimum wage to agriculturists and ranchers who employ less harmful techniques to the environment, like non-utilization of pesticides or agroforestry systems performance.

Amazonas Government created, in 2007, “Bolsa-Floresta”, paid to riverines’ families and traditional communities living on the surroundings on inside the state conservation unities. Besides that, some states have created an ecological ICMS, where they apply part of their tax collection into environmental preservation projects.

At private initiative, O Boticário Company has created Projeto Oásis, which offers financial gifts to Grande Sao Paulo spring owners who preserve Mata Atlântica remaining at their lands.

International experiences
In the world, Costa Rica has created a pioneer initiative of payment for environmental services, with a fee charging on gas and water consuming, passed to the proprietors who preserve forests in the country. This measure could refrain from local deforestation picture.

In Mexico, the federal government pays rural owners who preserve their forests and spring areas. The country also uses carbon credit sale at agroforestry project financing, in order to reduce gas emission of Greenhouse effect.

Besides, the French company Vittel, mineral water producer, pays the neighbor land proprietors to its springs in order to reduce fertilizers use and hold water contamination.

Translation - Grupo Solucion-SP Language/Márcia Regina Monteiro Ferreira