Climate-smart and sustainable landscapes in Western Mato Grosso
Supporting transition to climate-smart and sustainable landscapes in Western Mato Grosso, Brazil
PATHWAYS
.
START
May 2023
DURATION
24 months
BIOMES
Cerrado and Amazon
LOCATION
Brazil
STATUS
In Progress
The project aims to expand the reach of the territorial approach based on the Produce, Conserve and Include (PCI) initiative, implemented by the State of Mato Grosso to encourage deforestation-free soy production with positive long-term socioeconomic impacts. Coordinated by IPAM, in partnership with Produzindo Certo and ProForest, and supported by the Land Innovation Fund, the initiative will combine several innovative solutions for sustainable and climate-smart agriculture: territorial governance, with the development of carbon credit mechanisms in line with the state's jurisdictional system; technical assistance for compliance with the forest code and labor laws; and a restoration agenda with a potential for scale-up.
The proposal will apply the territorial approach in the municipalities of Sapezal, Tangará da Serra, Campos de Júlio, Campo Novo do Parecis, Diamantino, and Alto Paraguay, some of the largest soy producers in the country, all located in an area of the Cerrado biome with high rates of land conversion for agriculture. Some of the initiative's objectives are to:
1) Establish inclusive territorial governance to promote sustainable, low-carbon, deforestation- and conversion-free soy supply chains, with identification and involvement of local stakeholders, creation of a governance structure, definition of shared goals, development of a baseline, an action plan, a monitoring framework and a long-term strategy for ongoing funding (including carbon markets), replication and scale up.
2) Increase agricultural yields, sustainable income and carbon stocks by implementing climate-smart solutions through baseline development, technical assistance and monitoring the implementation of activities on 60 farms. Farmers will also be able to use the Produzindo Certo platform, through the "Eu Produzo Certo" application – refined and expanded from another project supported by the Land Innovation Fund – to access green business opportunities.
3) Conserve, protect and restore native vegetation through economic incentives and by helping create favorable conditions to recover the territory's landscape, with lower GHG emissions from approximately 3,000 hectares, by paying farmers to conserve areas legally eligible for conversion, and restoring 100 hectares of small and medium-sized soybean farms, involving about 100 farmers. In addition, the initiative will chart areas with environmental liabilities in the territory, and carry out an assessment of the restoration chain, to prepare a regional restoration strategy.
4) Promote the involvement of players at state and municipal levels in initiatives and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by analyzing potential strategies and promoting dialogues and the exchange of knowledge among communities.
