Brazilian REDD+ project has rights to operate, says developer
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Brazilian project developer Biofílica Ambipar is confident a Verra review into its Jari Pará REDD+ project will conclude that it has the right to conserve the land it currently operates on, it said on Wednesday.
The project came under fire earlier this week in a Reuters investigation, which alleged that it "has sold carbon credits from publicly owned land without state authorisation" and has been the subject of a land dispute for several years.
But Biofílica said a local court has already found in its favour and that it has the right to operate the project, which is a joint venture with local timber company the Jari Group.
The legal dispute originates from a 2006 decision by Pará authorities to block all land titles in the state's interior, including the Saracura Farm where the project is located, to weed out corruption.
According to a history of events seen by Quantum, Saracura Farm was first classified as a private area in 1856 and bought by Jari Group in 1948.
In 2010, Pará authorities decided to cancel all titles in the state's interior and in 2011, filed a declaratory action against the company for the non-existence of domain of the Saracura Farm.
Several developments ensued but in 2021, the District Court of Monte Dourado in Almeirim, State of Pará, found in favour of the project, although Pará authorities have appealed the verdict.
Jari Pará REDD+ (VCS1811) was officially registered by Verra in 2019 to protect an area of forest in the north of Pará state.
"We emphasise that the Jari Group holds possession of the area named Saracura Farm, which meets the requirement of 'legal right to control and operate the activities of the project', meeting the land requirement to implement a carbon project by Verra," said Biofílica Ambipar.
On hold
US-based registry Verra put the project on hold in March in order to conduct a full investigation, although sources have described the move as a precautionary measure because auditor RINA has already concluded the project's right to operate on the land is valid.
The developer said: "As a form of safeguard, Verra may decide that a project undergoes review whenever the organisation deems it necessary; in this case, after receiving questions from the reporting vehicle itself.
"We see the act of review with excellent eyes, after all it represents an important safeguard of control of the projects.
"Biofílica and the auditor/VVB of the project, RINA, were notified about the review process and, since then, we are contributing in every way so that the certification is revalidated after the end of the process, which should take place in 45 days."
The Reuters article mentions that Saracura is the only publicly known case among the thousands of titles cancelled by the state to have since been registered by the government as public property, but the developer said this proves nothing.
"We consider the government's attempt at reclassification to be surprising, given its history as a private area since 1856," said Biofílica.
"However, the fact that it is the only area among thousands to have had an attempt at registration by the State does not demonstrate that it is in fact public land, but rather that the state government has undoubtly great interest in the Saracura Farm that seems unrelated to forestry conservation," it added.
Territorial disputes are common in Brazil, the world's fifth largest country, due to complex administrative layers and the fact that around 16% of the country is unclaimed land and 36% public lands, according to a 2019 academic study.
"Land tenure in many parts of Brazil remains uncertain and controversial. These problems have recently been exacerbated by changes in the legal framework regulating protected areas and the land market," wrote the academics from the University of São Paulo.
"A particular challenge facing attempts to improve land tenure security and governance in Brazil is the lack of a single, integrated assessment of all types of lands."
Pará State does not currently have a framework for allowing or blocking carbon projects on state land.
