CONAMA Resolution 238/97

CONAMA RESOLUTION 238, Dec. 22, 1997
Published in Official Gazette 248 on Dec. 23, 1997, Section 1, page 30930
Establishes provisions for the approval of the National Policy for the Control of Desertification

THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL – CONAMA, in accordance with the power bestowed upon the Council by Law 6.938 from August 31, 1981, regulated by Decree 99.274 from June 6, 1990 and in accordance with the provisions of its Internal Regulations, and

Considering that the subject of desertification has been the subject of debate by the international community since the United Nations International Conference on Desertification, held in Nairobi in 1977;

Considering that the Nairobi Conference led to the creation of the Action Plan for the Combat of Desertification (PACD) which aimed at the development of global actions through the voluntary participation of countries that participated in the Conference;

Considering that the evaluation of the results from the PADC, undertaken by the United Nations Environmental Program (PNUMA), can be considered to be very modest due to a lack of investments, to the fact that the great majority of countries threatened with desertification did not make any national commitments and the lack of developed programs for the empowerment of specialized human resources;

Considering that in Brazil the lack of political decisions and of consensus among the scientific community which led to conceptual and methodical disputes which in turn led to the dispersion of efforts and hindered the creation of clear research lines that could lead to the allocation of resources and the definition of research areas;

Considering that the Rio 92 Conference led to the creation, within the United Nations context, of the International Convention to Combat Desertification and Draught, based on the International Conference on Climate, Sustainability and Development in Semi-Arid Regions held in Ceará State during January 1992. The Convention was held during 1993 and ended on June 17, 1994 and was signed by more than one hundred countries including Brazil;

Considering that the Brazilian government has, in light of the commitments made through the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, signed a professional agreement with the United Nations Development Program (PNUD) through the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon (MMA) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, aimed at the creation of the National Plan to Combat Desertification (PNCD) founded and implemented by the Fundação Grupo Esquel Brasil (Brazilian Esquel Group Foundation). This agreement is today approved and supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and by PNUMA;

Considering that Agenda 21 and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification have led to a workshop that counted with the participation of institutions and professionals within the subject matter aimed at the promotion of debate and the definition of the benchmarks for a national policy for desertification control;

Considering that the results from this inter-institutional and interdisciplinary effort can serve as a base for the formulation of desertification control policies that: safeguard improved life quality for affected communities; empower federal organs and agencies to strive for sustainable development; lead the international community to increased efforts and contribute to global sustainable development;

Art. 1 Approves the National Desertification Control Policy according to the text published in the Internal Bulletin of the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon.

Art. 2 Enters into effect on the date of publication and all provisions to the contrary are hereby revoked.

GUSTAVO KRAUSE GONÇALVES SOBRINHO – Council President
RAIMUNDO DEUSDARÁ FILHO – Executive Secretary

 

NATIONAL DESERTIFICATION CONTROL POLICY
APPROVED DURING THE 49th REGULAR CONAMA MEETING

THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT COUNCIL – CONAMA, in accordance with the power bestowed upon the Council by Law 6.938 from August 31, 1981, regulated by Decree 99.274 from June 6, 1990 and in accordance with the provisions of its Internal Regulations, and

Considering that the subject of desertification has been the subject of debate by the international community since the United Nations International Conference on Desertification, held in Nairobi in 1977;

Considering that the Nairobi Conference led to the creation of the Action Plan for the Combat of Desertification (PACD) which aimed at the development of global actions through the voluntary participation of countries that participated in the Conference;

Considering that the evaluation of the results from the PADC, undertaken by the United Nations Environmental Program (PNUMA), can be considered to be very modest due to a lack of investments, to the fact that the great majority of countries threatened with desertification did not make any national commitments and the lack of developed programs for the empowerment of specialized human resources;

Considering that in Brazil the lack of political decisions and of consensus among the scientific community which led to conceptual and methodical disputes which in turn led to the dispersion of efforts and hindered the creation of clear research lines that could lead to the allocation of resources and the definition of research areas;

Considering that the Rio 92 Conference led to the creation, within the United Nations context, of the International Convention to Combat Desertification and Draught, based on the International Conference on Climate, Sustainability and Development in Semi-Arid Regions held in Ceará State during January 1992. The
Convention was held during 1993 and ended on June 17, 1994 and was signed by more than one hundred countries including Brazil;

Considering that the Brazilian government has, in light of the commitments made through the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, signed a professional agreement with the United Nations Development Program (PNUD) through the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon (MMA) and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, aimed at the creation of the National Plan to Combat Desertification (PNCD) founded and implemented by the Fundação Grupo Esquel Brasil (Brazilian Esquel Group Foundation). This agreement is today
approved and supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and by PNUMA;

Considering that Agenda 21 and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification have led to a workshop that counted with the participation of institutions and professionals within the subject matter aimed at the promotion of debate and the definition of the benchmarks for a national policy for desertification control;

Considering that the results from this inter-institutional and interdisciplinary effort can serve as a base for the formulation of desertification control policies that: safeguard improved life quality for affected communities; empower federal organs and agencies to strive for sustainable development; lead the international community to increased efforts and contribute to global sustainable development;

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The United Nations Convention on Desertification that followed Agenda 21 defines desertification as “the degradation of the soil in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones caused by different factors such as climate variations and human activities” and earth degradation is understood as:

a) soil and water resource degradation;
b) vegetation and biodiversity degradation; and
c) decreased life quality for affected populations.

This definition was adopted by the United nations Environment Program (PNUMA) and serves as the basis for the definition of areas susceptible to desertification in arid, semi-arid and dry-sub-humid climates.

The acceptance of the definition of arid, for purposes related to the implementation of the United Nations Action Plan for the Combat Against Desertification, took place during 1977 through the methodology developed by Thornthwaite (1941) and was later published in the work Map of the World Distribution of Arid Regions, UNESCO, 1979.

According to the above definition, the rate of aridness in a region depends on the quantity of water from rainfall (P) and the loss of water through evaporation and transpiration (ETP), or the Evaporation-Transpiration Potential.

The degrees of variation for this rate are:

Hyper-arid < 0,05
Arid 0,05 – 0,20
Semi-arid 0,21 – 0,50
Dry Sub-humid 0,51 – 0,65
Sub-humid and humid > 0,65

For Convention purposes the aridness index varies between 0.21 and 0.65.

Poverty is associated to the degradation of the Earth in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid zones and is today globally acknowledged as one of the main factors associated to the desertification process.

Areas susceptible to desertification occupy more than 30% of the planet’s surface and are home to almost 1 billion people, according to PNUMA data.

Studies undertaken by the International Centre for Arid and Semi-Arid Land Studies – ICASALS, Texas University, on earth degradation estimate that 69% of all of the world’s arid zones are being affected by desertification on different levels. Data provided by the United Nations show that the desertification process is rendering production impossible on more than 6 million hectares annually due to over-pastoring, soil salinization and intensive production processes that lack any form of agricultural sustainability.

Desertification is behind annual losses of around 26 billion USD and the costs for the recuperation of these areas may reach 90 billion USD during a twenty year period, according to data from the assessment report published by PNUMA.

The causes for desertification have been widely debated throughout the world. It is today considered that it is mainly caused by inadequate management methods for resource exploitation and attempts to introduce new technological standards for traditional rural populations. However, all of these factors can be attributed to the fact that the post-war development method adopted by the large majority of countries is concentrated in the creation of integrated markets where products from the semi-arid regions cannot compete, or have a great competition disadvantage, with products from temperate zones.

This means that producers often without capital and employing agricultural production practices of a low technological level, in order to meet market demands , over exploit their natural resources and do not include their wearing in the cost of the products as if they did so they would lose competitiveness.

The above facts belong to the history of soil degradation in the whole world. A perverse cycle with a final result that has increased poverty and the destruction of national patrimony as degraded areas.

DESERTIFICATION IN BRAZIL

In Brazil the areas that fit the United Nations framework for degraded areas are the areas located in the semi-arid tropic regions.

Environmentally degraded areas have also been identified in other areas of the country such as the now widely known phenomenon of Alegrete in Rio Grande do Sul state and the strong soil erosion in the states of Paraná, São Paulo, Rondônia and Jalapão, Tocantins state. These are areas are considered as strongly and gravely environmentally degraded.

However, the above areas are not included in the framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and in chapter 12 of Agenda 21.

The application of the PNUMA methodology for the identification of areas susceptible to the process of desertification in Brazil was used by Nucleus Desert/IBAMA during 1992. The result of that work is consubstantiated in the desertification susceptibility Map.

The semi-arid tropic region, as defined by SUDENE, comprehends an area of 980.711 square kilometers spread throughout eight States in the Northeastern Region of Brazil and the north of Minas Gerais state.

The semi-arid region is home to a broad ecosystems, where dry and draught periods has an effect on almost the entire agropecuary activity and even more so on small and medium properties, a fact that creates accentuated socio-economic problems and mass migrations to other parts of the Country.

The population of the semi-arid region, according to the Census from 1991, is 17.8 million and corresponds to 42% of the total population of the Northeastern region and 11% of the total Brazilian population. The area is marked by traditional rural practices with little or no access to the national market, does not benefit from the introduction of new technologies, and popular customs have been set throughout generations and have a very paternalistic relationship with the State.

The above characteristics have led to ambiguous social and political practices when compared to those of populations living in urban areas that have been modernized by the market and free access to information.

This ambiguity takes the form of a constant search for “protection” in the state apparatus and its representatives and, on the other side, a recurring difficulty in absorbing available professional information provided by the state for the solution of their problems.

Furthermore, the above mentioned dynamics are a reflection of structural problems with strong environmental consequences. When access to the market and its opportunities are structurally limited there is a tendency to over-exploit resources as a compensating measure which leads to medium term effects on the environment and decreases the possibilities to keep people settled in the region.

All of the above factors are pressing for the population and leads to their territorial dislocation when they cannot solve their problems locally.

As it is widely known, the colonization process of the northeastern territory started from the coastal region and was developed through the exploitation of extractable products and agricultural production for exportation purposes. It was only in the 17th century that the semi-arid regions were occupied through cattle farming practices.

Currently, the interior (sertão) is marked by subsistence poly-culture, extensive cattle ranches and some irrigated agricultural practices. Traditional activities are in the decrease because of climatic adversities and problems created decreased soil productivity and consequent loss of market competitiveness. On the other hand,
irrigated show already signs of salinization due to the absence of investments in drainage systems.

Available studies show that the desertification process in the semi-arid region has already compromised an area of 181.000 square kilometers and created different types of environmental impacts throughout the territory.

Areas that suffer from diffuse impacts show signs of environmental damage such as soil erosion, impoverished caatinga areas and the degradation of water resources. All with direct effects on the quality of life of local populations.

Areas where the effects are concentrated in small parts of the territory show deep damage and they now form the Desert Nucleolus.

Studies have allowed the identification of the first four Nuclei where desertification can be considered extremely serious and where natural resources have been strongly compromised. They are: Gilbués,PI, Irauçuba,CE, Seridó, RN/PB, Cabrobó, PE, with a total area of about 15.000 square kilometers. The impact of desertification can be classified as: environmental, social and economic.

Environmental impacts can be seen as the destruction of biodiversity (flora and fauna), the decrease in water resource availability, the drying of rivers and reservoirs and the impoverishment of the chemistry and physical properties of the soil. All of the above factors decrease the soil’s biological potential, reduce the agricultural productivity and have thereby a strong effect on local populations

Social damage can be characterized by marked social changes caused by the increasingly loss of productivity and its respective effect on the fabric of families. Migrations split families and have a strong impact on urban areas which are not prepared to offer services to large quantities of immigrants. It is important to mention that the affected populations are very vulnerable as they belong to the poorest groups of the region and their quality of life is well below the national average.

Economic loss caused by desertification is also very important. According to the methodology developed by the United Nations losses due to desertification correspond to 250 USD per hectare in comparison to irrigated areas, 40.000 USD per hectare in dry agricultural areas and 7.00 USD per hectare in pastoral areas.

The total losses in Brazil caused by desertification, according to studies undertaken by the Ministry of the Environment, and reach up to 800 million USD per year . The total cost for the recuperation of these areas is estimated at 2 billion USD during a twenty year period.

REFERENCE BENCHMARKS FOR A DESERTIFICATION CONTROL POLICY

Chapter 12 of Agenda 21 sets the first group of directives that must be implemented in order to address the problem, they are:

a) increased knowledge base and the development of information and monitoring systems for risk regions including the economic and social aspects of these ecosystems;
b) combat the degradation of the land through soil conservation and forestry activities and forest replacement;
c) create and strengthen integrated development programs aimed at the eradication of poverty and the promotion of alternative life systems in areas that are susceptible to desertification;
d) develop comprehensive programs to combat desertification and integrate them with national planning and environmental management;
e) develop plans to face droughts, including self-help for draught ridden areas, and develop programs to care for environmental refugees;
f) provide incentives for and promote social participation and environmental education that emphasizes the control of desertification and the management of droughts.

Apart from the above recommendations the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has established annexes for regional implementation for the creation of action programs and professional cooperation on regional and sub-regional levels.

As previously mentioned and in spite of the fact that the scope of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is restricted to arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions, the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon has identified, through specific studies, other areas in Brazil that must be cared for, namely areas that suffer from strong environmental degradation such as Alegrete/Rio Grande do Sul State and the micro regions of Jalapão/Tocantins State.

OBJECTIVES

The basic objective of the National Desertification Control Policy is to implement sustainable development in areas that are subjected to droughts and desertification. Including:

a) create proposals for environmental management and the use of naturals resources of the caatinga area and transition areas, without long term risks;
b) created proposals for the short, medium and long term prevention and recuperation of areas that are currently affected by desertification;
c) undertake actions for the prevention of environmental degradation of transitional semi-arid, sub-humid and humid areas aimed at the protection of these different ecosystems;
d) increase communication between governmental and non-governmental organs in order to establish a model of economic and social development that is compatible with the preservation of natural resources and with social equality in the semi-arid region;
e) coordinate federal, state and municipal actions for the implementation of local measures to combat and control desertification and the effects of droughts;
f) contribute to the strengthening and empowerment of municipalities aimed at the development of local strategies for desertification control.

STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS

According to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification the main tool for the National Desertification Control Policy is the National Plan to Combat Desertification (PNCD) which is in its initial stages of creation.

The PNCD is a tool for the formulation and coordination of actions for the combat of desertification, nor only of those that are already under implementation but also those that will be developed within the different Governmental sectors.

As recommended by the Convention, the creation and posterior implementation of the PNCD implies the participation of civil society in all of its stages. This implies the adoption of a new paradigm where the process is increasingly important in relation to the old modus-operand.

In order to reach the above mentioned objectives of a national policy several components and their respective priorities have been identified. The result of priority actions, which is the responsibility of several sectors of the government, must be based on a solid process that includes the participation of civil society and non-governmental organizations.

It must also be emphasized that the nature of the process of desertification is multi-dimensional and demands Governmental action that is composed of convergent policies in the areas of water resources, environmental management and the combat against the effects of droughts through the identification area requirements and the implementation of local policies.

COMPONENTS OF A NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR DESERTIFICATION CONTROL

Objective: The creation of a national plan aimed at the formulation and organization of regional actions to combat desertification

Component 1 : Institutional empowerment and interaction
Component 2 : Improved communication and flow of desertification related information
Component 3 : Management and professional empowerment of human resources for the management of areas subjected to desertification
Component 4 : Improved awareness and sensitivity by sustainable development managers in areas that run the risk of desertification
Component 5 : Creation of operational capacity for desertification control on a local level
Component 6 : Creation of strategies for the monitoring, prevention and recuperation of desertification areas
Component 7 : Define priority projects and actions

Component 1 : Institutional empowerment and interaction

OBJECTIVE

Empower and improve institutional formulation capacities and provide the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon with a structure that allows the coordination of formulation and implementation of activities related to the National Plan to Combat Desertification (PNCD).

ACTIONS

  • Create a commission for the coordination end support of the formulation of the Plan to Combat Desertification (PNCD) within the Ministry of the Environment;
  • establish tools for professional cooperation between the institutions that will participate in the creation and implementation of the PNCD;
  • promote and assist in the creation of events aimed at desertification related discussions and the sustainable development of the semi-arid regions;
  • implement strategic processes for strategic planning related to the creation of the PNCD;
  • assist in the realization of seminars and workshops related to strategic planning of PNCD application areas;
  • formulate action plans for the Latin American area and the respective establishment of desertification related assessment, monitoring, prevention and control methodologies.

Component 2 – Improved communication and flow of desertification related information.

OBJECTIVE

Creation of a desertification related information and documentation network with institutions aimed at the research and/or information relevant to the subject, within the PNCD area of operations.

ACTIONS

  • Survey, actualize and exchange information on the degree of desertification of the semi-arid regions;
  • create a network for the collection of information on the climate, soil, vegetation, social and economic aspects, droughts and adequate and environmentally sustainable technologies;
  • implement and maintain a data bank on national and international institutions and researchers within the subject area ;
  • create systematic tools for the spreading of desertification related information;
  • support and participate in activities that aim at the development of methodologies and indicators for the assessment and monitoring of desertification.

Component 3 – Management and technical empowerment of human resources for the management of areas subjected to desertification.

OBJECTIVE

Empowerment and qualification of personnel in the areas of research, control and recuperation of areas in the process of desertification.

ACTIONS

  • Promote the empowerment of human resources within the governmental and non-governmental sectors for the prevention and control of desertification;
  • foment the creation of desertification related research programs in cooperation with local communities in order to collect empirical knowledge and establish practices to address problems related to desertification and droughts;
  • cooperate with organs that promote research and resources for programs and projects aimed at the recuperation of areas in the process of desertification;
  • promote and support courses and seminars on identification methodologies, study, control and recuperation of desertification processes;
  • promote and provide assistance to empowerment programs for community leaders, technicians, farmers and rural workers focused on the sustainable use of resources and related subjects;
  • present proposals for the inclusion of desertification related subjects in school curriculums within the PNCD area of operations;
  • promote and provide assistance to sustainable development and recuperation processes related to management empowerment projects.

Component 4 – Improved awareness and sensitivity by sustainable development managers in areas that run the risk of desertification.

OBJECTIVE

Provide information the population living in areas that risk desertification on evaluations and other relevant information for the prevention, control and recuperation of desertification as well as information on the control of the effects of droughts and stimulate community participation in the formulation and implementation of the Plan to Combat Desertification.

ACTIONS

  • Lend support to formal and informal environmental education programs on all levels and inform the local populations regarding practices that harm the environment;
  • create and spread specific educational material for areas that are susceptible to desertification and droughts;
  • provide economic, social and environmental desertification related data to professionals and authorities;
  • define strategies for the inclusion of communities in PNCD related implementation activities;
  • promote the participation of communities and civil society in the combat against desertification and promote sustainable development;
  • lend support to local activities aimed at sustainable development and the sustainable use of natural resources;
  • stimulate the participation and empowerment of local leaders in local development processes;
  • promote and assist existing socio-economic initiatives as part of the combat against desertification;
  • promote the institutionalization , on a municipal level and with broad communitarian participation, of actions related to the combat against desertification;
  • assess, with the participation of local communities, alternatives for an adequate regional development.

Component 5 – Creation of operational capacity for desertification control on a local level.

OBJECTIVE

Create the professional and institutional conditions that are necessary for the support of emerging initiatives undertaken by local populations within desertification nuclei and aimed at the interruption of desertification processes and the recuperation of affected areas.

ACTIONS

  • Establish permanent contact mechanisms between local authorities and organized civil society for the formulation of proposals for immediate action within desertification nuclei;
  • foment the organization of civil society aimed at the formulation of actions that strengthen local institutions;
  • promote and assist in the creation of local municipal environmental council within desertification areas;
  • implement pilot projects for the management of natural resources, including micro-basin management, within desertification affected or risk areas;
  • promote cooperation with federal and state organs for local level related actions;
  • promote the use of agro-silvo-pastoral sustainable systems.

Component 6 – Creation of strategies for the monitoring, prevention and recuperation of desertification areas.

OBJECTIVE

Create strategies for the sustainable use of caatinga natural resources as well as proposals for the monitoring, prevention and recuperations of areas in the process of desertification.

ACTIONS

  • Assist in the creation of municipal Master Plans that include environmental variables and in particular those that can lead to desertification processes;
  • undertake economic and ecological zoning, on a compatible scale, aimed at the rationalization of natural resources in areas that face desertification;
  • define specific strategies that take into account the use of alternative energy sources to the use of wood;
  • implement an alarm system for the early identification of desertification processes based on the development of specific indicators;
  • undertake studies and define standards for the environmental protection of the caatinga;
  • create a system for the monitoring of desertification as a base for the assessment of the effectiveness of action programs and the progress degradation processes;
  • assist governmental and non-governmental organization in the formulation of environmental management projects for desertification affected areas;
  • undertake studies that identify the effects of desertification on biodiversity and climate change;
  • undertake studies and present proposals for the management of hydrographic basins aimed at the control of desertification processes.

Component 7 – Define priority projects and actions.

OBJECTIVE

Define priority actions and projects that must be developed in order to achieve the prevention and recuperation of areas in the process of desertification.

ACTIONS

  • Formulate and support to existing proposals for the development of the Northeastern region and the semi-arid regions, based on available knowledge and aimed at the sustainable use of the caatinga and the natural resources of semi-arid regions;
  • create pilot projects aimed at the recuperation of areas in the process of desertification centered on sustainable development;
  • lend support to the implementation of projects that promote alternative energy sources in cooperation with the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s (MME) State Energy Development bureau;
  • assist the implementation of fish implantation in dams, lakes and reservoirs as an economic alternative for the region;
  • propose the adoption of economic tools and the use of funds from existing development financial lines aimed at the execution of plans for the prevention and recuperation of areas in the process of recuperation.

ONGOING ACTIONS

The Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon has, since 1996, developed and participated in several initiatives that address the problem of desertification. These initiatives are in the process of being incorporated to the general Ministry strategies in respect to the formulation and implementation of desertification control policies.

Among the relevant actions it is noteworthy to point to the creation of the National Plan to Combat Desertification; participation in the Desertification Information and Documentation Network (REDESERT); and the assistance provided to Desertification Nuclei in respect to organization and institutional empowerment.

The above mentioned initiatives are being developed in cooperation with other regional and national entities such as the Ceará State Meteorology Foundation, the Federal University of Pernambuco, The Joaquim Nabuco Foundations the Tropic Semi-Arid Research Center, The São Francisco Médio Faculty, the Desert Institute, IBAMA, INPE and IPEA.

Presently, the actions developed by the Ministry of the Environment in relation to the creation of the National Plan to Combat Desertification are connected to the formulation of a national policy for the combat against desertification as well as the implementation and execution of some of the policies. The most relevant is REDESERT and the assistance provided to desertification Nuclei and the strengthening of municipal institutions.

Therefore, the internalization of the above mentioned measures within the organs and secretariats of the Ministry of the Environment is a fundamental step towards the future implementation process of the National Desertification Control Policy.

TOOLS OF THE NATIONAL DESERTIFICATION CONTROL POLICY

The National Desertification Control policy must rest on a set of tools that allows its implementation. Among these tools we find the legal/institutional, the economical/financial and the informational. It is also important to mention the National Territory Ecologic-Economic Zoning, an ongoing project undertaken by the SAE 24 , is an important tool for the planning of regional sustainable development.

The legal/institutional tools related to the implementation process of the National Desertification Control Policy are a set of legal provisions that harmonize existing natural resource conservation legislation with the demands for the control and recuperation of areas undergoing desertification process. This demands a complete examination of current legislation in cooperation with other Governmental organs in order to create specific legislation for the subject matter in accordance with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

In respect to the institutionalism of the desertification control mechanisms, nonetheless in light of the multidisciplinary and multi-sectorial nature of the subject matter, we should create a national commission in order to inform and enlighten the various sectors of the government and society in general on the nature of the problem, as well as involve them in the formulation process of new policies and development strategies for areas that are susceptible to desertification and droughts and in particular in respect to the incorporation, by local sectorial policies, of the principles related to the control of desertification.

The economical/financial tools needed for the implementation of the National Desertification Control Policy must address and improve existing initiatives and in particular those derived from the Green Protocol and current credit concession legislation. Studies related to the assessment of existing fiscal incentives must aim at the improvement of development priorities in relation to the need to preserve natural resources.

It is also important to mention the need to create a financial tool for the combat against desertification whose type, resources and application forms must become the object for a proposal by an inter-ministerial commission and approved by the appropriate organs and instances.

Finally, we must ponder on the fact that the combat against desertification is largely conditioned to public awareness the adequate spread of information. For this purpose we possess the previously mentioned and operational Desertification Information and Documentation Network (REDESERT) which will be one of the tools that can be used for governmental information.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

Significant efforts have been undertaken by the Brazilian society to minimize regional inequalities through development policies and in particular in respect to the Northeastern region, a region that has been the object of preoccupations since 1950. However, only recently have we started to give attention to the quality of the environment and to resource exploitation levels.

This is due to several factors among them the fact that the process of desertification occurs in areas which are inhabited, generally, by the poorest populations and suffering from economic and political fragility. Furthermore, the measures to prevent such processes imply improvements in technical standards for the exploitation of natural resources as well as technical knowhow related to improved management models. As a rule, these demands generate costs that cannot be absorbed by the large majority of farmers active in semi-arid regions as they lack capital, do not have access to credit lines and suffer from long drought periods.

The above problems are aggravated by the inexistence of educational programs and projects that can improve social awareness.

All of these factors lead to the erosion of the potential for development within the semi-arid regions, even if their competitiveness has increased in many areas, due to the lack of proper policies for the exploitation of natural resources.

Governmental initiatives are therefore fundamental in order to organize and maximize the implementation of actions that are necessary for the combat against desertification.

The proposals contained in this document represent a contribution to create a group of objectives and strategies that are essential for solving the problem and they involve different departments of the Ministry of the Environment, Water Resources and Legal Amazon and other governmental and non-governmental sectors.

We should also remember that the group of proposed converges with the group of tools contained in an operational environmental policy, such as the Green Protocol, the National Environmental Program and the National Environmental Education Program.

The directives hereby proposed do not preempt further debate on the subject as they only represent the initial stages of the process aimed at the implementation of a nation policy for the combat and control of desertification whose most important aspect is the promotion of the sustainable development of the Brazilian semi-arid Northeastern region.

This text does not substitute the text published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 23, 1997.