Formalizing tenure of Indigenous lands improved forest outcomes in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Across the globe, the legal land rights and tenure of many Indigenous peoples are yet to be recognized. A growing body of research demonstrates that tenure of Indigenous lands improves livelihoods and protects forests in addition to inherently recognizing human rights. However, the effect of tenure on environmental outcomes has scarcely been tested in regions with high development pressure, such as those with persisting forest-agriculture conflicts. In this paper, we conduct an event study and a difference-in-differences analysis to estimate the average treatment effect of land tenure on forest cover change for 129 Indigenous lands in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil from 1985 to 2019. We found that forest outcomes in Indigenous lands improved following tenure compared to pretenure and that forest outcomes improved in tenured compared to nontenured lands. We also found that formalized tenure, rather than incomplete tenure, was necessary to improve forest outcomes. Our study is the first rigorous analysis of the effect of tenure on Indigenous lands in the globally important Atlantic Forest biome and contributes to a growing body of literature on the role of rights-based approaches to conservation. The evidence presented in this study may support efforts to secure the legal rights and autonomy of Indigenous peoples.

Land tenure in tea farming and exploring factors influencing a rural households decision to exit or enter farming / Um exame da posse da terra na agricultura de chá e a exploração de fatores que influenciam a decisão de uma família rural de sair ou entrar na agricultura

ABSTRACT: Self-operated land and operated by tenure may affect the sustainability of farming in a region. This study planned to analyze how rural households switch away from tea farming even they have parental land, and how landless access the land for tea farming. For this a total of 138 tea growers were interviewed including 27 farmers who had just ownership of land and had left the tea farming. Logistic regression was applied to assess the determinants of rural household's decision to exit and enter the land market. Farmers were compared over their farm management practices and personal characteristics. The owned farmers were good in management and adoption of good practice in tea farming than those who accessed land as a shareholder and not had their own land. Rural households head as getting older, having high education and also having an off-farm occupation, having more university graduated family members, and family members having off-farm occupations are more likely to exit from farming and supply their land to rental markets. On the other side, an older and highly educated head of landless family is less likely to become a shareholder. Here also off-farm occupation has a negative and insignificant effect on the probability of landless household working as a shareholder. If the head of the landless family has a wish to become a successful farmer, then he is more likely to work as an owner. It implies that a person is less likely to work as a shareholder and more likely to get land with ownership rights not only land-using rights.

RESUMO: Propriedades auto-operados e operados pela posse podem afetar a sustentabilidade da agricultura em uma região. Este estudo planejou analisar como as famílias rurais se afastam da produção de chá, mesmo as que possuam terras parentais, e como os sem-terra acessam a terra para a produção de chá. Nesse total, 138 produtores de chá foram entrevistados, incluindo 27 agricultores que possuíam apenas a propriedade da terra e deixaram a lavoura. A regressão logística foi aplicada para avaliar os determinantes da decisão da família rural de sair e entrar no mercado de terras. Os agricultores foram comparados com suas práticas de gerenciamento agrícola e características pessoais. Os agricultores proprietários foram considerados bons em gestão e adoção de boas práticas na agricultura de chá do que aqueles que acessaram a terra como acionista e não possuíam terras próprias. Os agregados familiares rurais envelhecem, têm ensino superior e também uma ocupação fora da fazenda, tendo mais membros da família graduados na universidade e com ocupações fora da fazenda têm mais probabilidade de sair da agricultura e fornecer suas terras para os mercados de arrendamento. Por outro lado, um chefe de família sem terra, mais velho e altamente educado, tem menos chances de se tornar um acionista. Aqui também a ocupação fora da fazenda tem um efeito negativo e insignificante na probabilidade de famílias sem terra trabalharem como acionistas. Se o chefe da família sem terra deseja se tornar um agricultor bem-sucedido, é mais provável que ele trabalhe como proprietário. Isso implica que é menos provável que uma pessoa trabalhe como acionista e obtenha terras com direitos de propriedade e não apenas direitos de uso da terra.

Land tenure in tea farming and exploring factors influencing a rural households decision to exit or enter farming / Um exame da posse da terra na agricultura de chá e a exploração de fatores que influenciam a decisão de uma família rural de sair ou entrar na agricultura

Self-operated land and operated by tenure may affect the sustainability of farming in a region. This study planned to analyze how rural households switch away from tea farming even they have parental land, and how landless access the land for tea farming. For this a total of 138 tea growers were interviewed including 27 farmers who had just ownership of land and had left the tea farming. Logistic regression was applied to assess the determinants of rural households decision to exit and enter the land market. Farmers were compared over their farm management practices and personal characteristics. The owned farmers were good in management and adoption of good practice in tea farming than those who accessed land as a shareholder and not had their own land. Rural households head as getting older, having high education and also having an off-farm occupation, having more university graduated family members, and family members having off-farm occupations are more likely to exit from farming and supply their land to rental markets. On the other side, an older and highly educated head of landless family is less likely to become a shareholder. Here also off-farm occupation has a negative and insignificant effect on the probability of landless household working as a shareholder. If the head of the landless family has a wish to become a successful farmer, then he is more likely to work as an owner. It implies that a person is less likely to work as a shareholder and more likely to get land with ownership rights not only land-using rights.(AU)

Propriedades auto-operados e operados pela posse podem afetar a sustentabilidade da agricultura em uma região. Este estudo planejou analisar como as famílias rurais se afastam da produção de chá, mesmo as que possuam terras parentais, e como os sem-terra acessam a terra para a produção de chá. Nesse total, 138 produtores de chá foram entrevistados, incluindo 27 agricultores que possuíam apenas a propriedade da terra e deixaram a lavoura. A regressão logística foi aplicada para avaliar os determinantes da decisão da família rural de sair e entrar no mercado de terras. Os agricultores foram comparados com suas práticas de gerenciamento agrícola e características pessoais. Os agricultores proprietários foram considerados bons em gestão e adoção de boas práticas na agricultura de chá do que aqueles que acessaram a terra como acionista e não possuíam terras próprias. Os agregados familiares rurais envelhecem, têm ensino superior e também uma ocupação fora da fazenda, tendo mais membros da família graduados na universidade e com ocupações fora da fazenda têm mais probabilidade de sair da agricultura e fornecer suas terras para os mercados de arrendamento. Por outro lado, um chefe de família sem terra, mais velho e altamente educado, tem menos chances de se tornar um acionista. Aqui também a ocupação fora da fazenda tem um efeito negativo e insignificante na probabilidade de famílias sem terra trabalharem como acionistas. Se o chefe da família sem terra deseja se tornar um agricultor bem-sucedido, é mais provável que ele trabalhe como proprietário. Isso implica que é menos provável que uma pessoa trabalhe como acionista e obtenha terras com direitos de propriedade e não apenas direitos de uso da terra.(AU)

Evaluating and supporting conservation action in agricultural landscapes of the Usumacinta River Basin.

There is increasing recognition that ecosystems and their services need to be managed at landscape scale and greater. The development of landscape-scale conservation strategies need to incorporate information from multiple sources. In this study, we combine various research tools to link landscape patterns with production units and systems in the Usumacinta River Basin, and inform the discussion of key questions around decision-making related to conservation action and policy in Southern Mexico. A typology based on policy-relevant farmer characteristics (land tenure, farm size, source of income, farming system) differentiated between farmers (traditional vs. cattle ranching) with different motivations that determine how management affects landscape configuration. Five main types of traditional farming systems were identified that combine different forms of land use and vary in their degree of land intensification. Major fragmentation and decrease in connectivity coincided spatially with floodplains dominated by large-scale commercial farms that specialize in livestock production. Traditional practices within large units with low-sloped high quality land were also seen to be intensive; however the presence of trees was notable throughout these units. Policies that promote livestock farming are among the principle causes motivating deforestation. Land intensification by traditional farmers decreased as the landscape became increasingly rugged. Traditional farmers are the focus of initiatives developed by the Biological Corridor project which seeks to increase forest cover and landscape connectivity. These initiatives have shown high levels of rural participation (10,010 farmers benefited from 27,778 projects involving 95,374 ha of land) and acceptance (producers carried out more than one project and several types of projects during the first eight years of work). Strong action is still required to take on the segment of large-scale ranchers. Changes in the structure of land tenure over the past decade are highlighted that could have a profound impact on conservation policies and programs.

Who owns the Brazilian carbon?

Brazil is one of the major contributors to land-use change emissions, mostly driven by agricultural expansion for food, feed, and bioenergy feedstock. Policies to avoid deforestation related to private commitments, economic incentives, and other support schemes are expected to improve the effectiveness of current command and control mechanisms increasingly. However, until recently, land tenure was unknown for much of the Brazilian territory, which has undermined the governance of native vegetation and challenged support and incentive mechanisms for avoiding deforestation. We assess the total extent of public governance mechanisms protecting aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. We constructed a land tenure dataset for the entire nation and modeled the effects and uncertainties of major land-use acts on protecting AGC stocks. Roughly 70% of the AGC stock in Brazil is estimated to be under legal protection, and an additional 20% is expected to be protected after areas in the Amazon with currently undesignated land undergo a tenure regularization. About 30% of the AGC stock is on private land, of which roughly two-thirds are protected. The Cerrado, Amazon, and Caatinga biomes hold about 40%, 30%, and 20% of the unprotected AGC, respectively. Effective conservation of protected and unprotected carbon will depend on successful implementation of the Forest Act, and regularization of land tenure in the Amazon. Policy development that prioritizes unprotected AGC stocks is warranted to promote conservation of native vegetation beyond the legal requirements. However, different biomes and land tenure structures may require different policy settings considering local and regional specifics. Finally, the fate of current AGC stocks relies upon effective implementation of command and control mechanisms, considering that unprotected AGC in native vegetation on private land only accounts for 6.5% of the total AGC stock.

Acumulación de metales pesados en sedimentos viales urbanos: factores de interés en salud pública / Heavy metals build-up on urban road sediments: Factors of interest for public health.

Resumen Introducción. La rápida urbanización y la intensa actividad humana han hecho de las ciudades un foco de emisiones contaminantes; esta situación genera una variedad de problemas ambientales y de salud pública que involucran metales pesados. Objetivos. Identificar y analizar los factores físicos (FF) que intervienen en la acumulación de metales pesados en sedimentos viales con el fin de facilitar la toma de decisiones en el control de la contaminación metálica desde la salud pública urbana. Materiales y métodos. Se realizó una revisión sistemática internacional de la literatura científica asociada entre el 1 de enero de 1970 y el 31 de diciembre de 2015. Las bases de datos utilizadas fueron Springer, ScienceDirect y Google Scholar. Se desarrolló un índice de frecuencia de citación (Q) para establecer un orden de importancia de FF detectados y se utilizaron las pruebas estadísticas de análisis clúster, t-Student, coeficiente de correlación de Pearson y regresión lineal para estudiar la relación entre las variables identificadas. Resultados. Los estudios citaron la precipitación (Q1), el uso del suelo (Q2) y el tráfico (Q2) como FF dominantes, por lo que una visión integral para la gestión de la salud pública debe considerar dos escenarios con sus correspondientes FF dominantes: el meteorológico (FF: precipitación) y el antropogénico (FF: uso del suelo y tráfico). Conclusión. Se sugiere un orden de intervención diferenciado para las instituciones encargadas del control de la contaminación metálica y la gestión de la salud pública en áreas urbanas.

Abstract Introduction: Rapid urbanization and intense human activity have turned cities into a focus of pollutants emissions, thus generating all sorts of environmental and public health problems involving heavy metals. Objectives: To identify and analyze the physical factors (PF) involved in the accumulation of heavy metals in road sediments to enable decision-making processes directed to control heavy metal pollution from a urban public health perspective. Materials and methods: An international systematic review was conducted in related scientific literature published between January 1, 1970 and December 31, 2015. Springer, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar were the consulted databases. A citation frequency index (Q) was developed to establish an order of relevance of the detected PF, while cluster analysis, Student's t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression tests were used to study the correlation between the variables identified. Finally, 79 documents were selected for the construction of the manuscript. Results: The studies cited precipitation (Q1), land use (Q2) and traffic (Q2) as dominant PF. Therefore, a comprehensive view for public health management should consider two scenarios and their corresponding dominant PFs: meteorological (PF: precipitation) and anthropogenic (PF: land use and traffic). Conclusion: A different intervention order is suggested for the institutions in charge of controlling heavy metal pollution and public health management in urban areas.

Participatory, Multi-Criteria Evaluation Methods as a Means to Increase the Legitimacy and Sustainability of Land Use Planning Processes. The Case of the Chaco Region in Salta, Argentina.

Conflicts over land use and ownership are common in South America and generate frequent confrontations among indigenous peoples, small-scale farmers, and large-scale agricultural producers. We argue in this paper that an accurate identification of these conflicts, together with a participatory evaluation of their importance, will increase the social legitimacy of land use planning processes, rendering decision-making more sustainable in the long term. We describe here a participatory, multi-criteria conflict assessment model developed to identify, locate, and categorize land tenure and use conflicts. The model was applied to the case of the "Chaco" region of the province of Salta, in northwestern Argentina. Basic geographic, cadastral, and social information needed to apply the model was made spatially explicit on a Geographic Information System. Results illustrate the contrasting perceptions of different stakeholders (government officials, social and environmental non-governmental organizations, large-scale agricultural producers, and scholars) on the intensity of land use conflicts in the study area. These results can help better understand and address land tenure conflicts in areas with different cultures and conflicting social and enviornmental interests.

Urbanization, land tenure security and vector-borne Chagas disease.

Modern cities represent one of the fastest growing ecosystems on the planet. Urbanization occurs in stages; each stage characterized by a distinct habitat that may be more or less susceptible to the establishment of disease vector populations and the transmission of vector-borne pathogens. We performed longitudinal entomological and epidemiological surveys in households along a 1900 × 125 m transect of Arequipa, Peru, a major city of nearly one million inhabitants, in which the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas disease, by the insect vector Triatoma infestans, is an ongoing problem. The transect spans a cline of urban development from established communities to land invasions. We find that the vector is tracking the development of the city, and the parasite, in turn, is tracking the dispersal of the vector. New urbanizations are free of vector infestation for decades. T. cruzi transmission is very recent and concentrated in more established communities. The increase in land tenure security during the course of urbanization, if not accompanied by reasonable and enforceable zoning codes, initiates an influx of construction materials, people and animals that creates fertile conditions for epidemics of some vector-borne diseases.

Land tenure and child health in Rio Grande do Sul: the relationship between agricultural production, malnutrition and mortality.

"Four different approaches were applied to test the hypothesis that patterns of land tenure and agricultural production in Rio Grande do Sul [Brazil] are important infant mortality determinants. These studies have employed various data sources on distinct analytical levels.... The results...provide reliable evidence of there being a strong relationship between the degree of concentration of land tenure and agricultural production on the one hand, and malnutrition and infant mortality on the other."

[Immigration and political marginality in Argentina]. / Inmigracion y marginalidad politica en Argentina.

PIP: The author analyzes immigration in Argentina, with a focus on the extent to which the political system has contributed to the social and economic marginalization of migrants since the mid-nineteenth century. Sociocultural characteristics of migrants are examined. Patterns of land distribution and ownership are discussed, and the impact on movements of migrants within the country and on urban marginality is investigated.^ieng

The fertility incentive of land tenure in Mexico.

PIP: Ejidos are communal holding groups of redistributed land expropriated (generally without compensation) from large private landowners during Mexico's post-1910 land reform. The model in this study of the "ejidal" system's influence on fertility differs from DeVany and Sanchez in providing more current data and including the following more detailed variables: the land area of ejidos and the number of ejidos, the need for children, male income, female income share, and social security coverage. The data pertains to states rather than municipalities. DeVany and Sanchez found that the ejidal system encouraged fertility, because having more children helped an ejido family retain land rights, increased its chances of gaining additional productive land, and gave it increased political power. Children also provided a means of intergenerational transfer of resources. The estimation results of this study revealed that the total proportion of land held as ejidos had a positive, significant effect on fertility. The ratio of ejidos to total number of farms was negative and significant. There was support for the hypothesis that the impact of ejidos land holdings and area was diminished when ejidos were dominant in the state. Fertility declined with the increase in unpaid workers per hectare of land. Elasticity functions were small: 0.075 on ejidal land, -0.222 on ejidal farms, and -0.045 on workers. A positive significant demographic effect on fertility was illiteracy. Infant mortality and female income share each had a negative, significant effect on fertility. Insignificant variables were male income, social security coverage, and the dummy for northern states. There have been changes in the Mexican ejidal system. These changes and the availability of farm labor are expected to reduce urban and rural fertility differentials.^ieng

[Widows and neighbors, cornfields and magueys. The impact of population increase in the Toluca Valley: the case of Tenango del Valle during the eighteenth century]. / Viudas y vecinos, milpas y magueyes. El impacto del auge de la poblacion en el Valle de Toluca: el caso de Tenango del Valle en el siglo XVIII.

PIP: The author examines the effect of rapid population growth due to migration on the parish of Tenango del Valle, Mexico, during the eighteenth century. She gives special consideration to the impact on quality of life in indigenous villages, especially for widows and female heads of households who were impoverished as a result of discriminatory land transactions. Data are mainly from the parish register for 1770.^ieng

From protest to programs: neighborhood associations in a Brazilian municipality.

PIP: The examples of community participation and organization in Brazil reflect the benefits to health and education programs and land entitlement. The community and government were working together toward self-improvement. An alliance was formed between neighborhood groups and a reform mayor. The result was an end to clientelism, stronger community organization, and local participation in designing and implementing development programs. The neighborhood groups were located in Cambe, which is a region located within the metropolitan area of Londrina, the 3rd largest city in southern Brazil. Mechanization of agriculture and extensive cattle ranching had caused migration into the area. Population increased 60% during the 1980s. The poorest neighborhoods were Jardim Tupy, Santo Amaro, and Novo Bandeirantes. Jardim Tupy was the poorest, and in 1980 a neighborhood association was formed to demand infrastructure and public services. The clientelism mayor and national government refused aid. When the association sued over a motor vehicle accident involving farm workers living in the community and won, there was momentum to change city hall. Support was given to the reform mayor who won and agreed to community demands for a community garden. The garden became a model for 14 others in Cambe and led to a strong neighborhood association which learned the strength of unity. The mayor rewarded good neighborhood organization with increases in public goods and services. The Catholic Church became involved in Jardim Tupy with a Pastoral of the Child program to reduce infant and child mortality rates. Health improvements in the community are attributed to the neighborhood association, the Pastoral of the Child, the local Catholic parish, and a thaw in the relationship with local government. The residents learned the limits of local government and the lessons of self-help. Santo Amaro, while not as well organized as Jardim Tupy, was successful at overcoming the lack of resources. novo Bandeirantes was successful in direct action to design and implement public programs. This involved survey in the socioeconomic conditions of the neighborhood, obtaining funding for and building latrines, and helping landholders gain title to their lands.^ieng

The law of the mother.

PIP: The Congress Workshop on People and Protected Areas convened to discuss the need to combine modern science and traditional knowledge to effect sustainable development among indigenous peoples in the world. The founder of the Fundacion Pro-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta talked about development of training programs for displaced farmers and rehabilitation of Indian lands and villages in the Sierra Nevada of northern Colombia. The 3 indigenous peoples (Kogi, Arsario, and Arhuaco Indians) have only recently regained title to their forebears' lands. In fact, in 1990, the government of Colombia gave about 25% of the country back to indigenous populations. The forebears of the Kogi, Arsario, and Arhuaco Indians constructed great stone cities and advanced systems of agriculture, terracing, and irrigation. The Indians have lived under the Law of the Mother for thousands of years. This code dictates human behavior so that humans are in unity with plant and animal cycles, star movements, climatic phenomena, and the sacred geography of the coastal mountains. They are so much an integral part of their ecosystem that they even limit their population size. Now they resurrect villages in 2 national parks and indigenous reservations. Farmers who colonized the area since the 1960s must now leave the reserves and begin anew in nearby buffer zones. Here they learn revitalized agricultural techniques to abandon their illegal marijuana, cocaine, and poppy farming. At the workshop, participants also learned about conservation activities of the Imgrauen in the Banc d'Arguin National Park in Mauritania who continue to use dolphins to catch mullet. In India, the Bisnoi people living in the Rajasthan desert have established their own unofficial protected areas to keep the fragile ecosystem. Other examples were in Niger and Central Europe. The workshop participants agreed that recognition of land tenure and intellectual property rights were high priorities.^ieng

[The control of urban growth in Mexico City. Suppositions regarding poor planning]. / El control de la expansion urbana en la ciudad de Mexico. Conjeturas de un falso planteamiento.

PIP: It is argued that mechanisms for planning land use and controlling urban expansion in Mexico City have failed to achieve their aims. Although in theory Mexico's urban planning process has recently attempted to go beyond purely physical aspects to include socioeconomic dimensions, it has in fact been inflexible and oriented to exclusively to technical and administrative aspects, to the detriment of social distribution goals. Planning instruments have not included important aspects such as specific mechanisms for altering employment structures or income levels or mechanisms for providing access to land or housing to the most disadvantaged groups. The urban planning process in Mexico City, instead of assuming a socially compensatory role in favor of disadvantaged groups, has maintained the status quo or discriminated in favor of the already advantaged. The spatial and technical orientation or urban planning in Mexico City does not leave room for a well-defined social policy. The population of the Mexico City metropolitan Zone increased from 3 million in 1950 to 18 million in 1985, while its total area increased from 11,750 hectares in 1940 to 125,000 in 1985. Transfer of population from the Federal District to the conurban municipios of the state of Mexico has been very significant since the 1970s. Around 20% of the total area of metropolitan Mexico City has been settled through illegal means, with communal and ejido lands accounting for a large share. Settlements on some 60% of lands in metroplitan Mexico City were illegal or irregular at some time. Low income housing is the cheapest form for the government because the frequently illegal status of settlers prevents them from making any demands for services or equipment for the 1st several years. Construction is undertaken and financed almost entirely by the settlers themselves, freeing the government of responsibility in regard to the constitutionally mandated right of all Mexicans to housing. The Urban Development Plan of the state of Mexico published in 1986 proposed 2 important programs for controlling urban growth. The territorial reserves program aimed to anticipate the need and make available through purchase, expropriation, or other means sufficient lands for housing to which the lowest income groups would share access. The "Paint Your Line" program establiished physical limits for urban expansion in each of the 17 conurban municipios in the State of Mexico. To date, however, few lands have been set aside for legal acquisition and the Paint Your Line program has been slow in delimiting the areas to be settled. Data from a 1989 study in the municipios of Chalco and Ixtapaluca demonstrate the shortcomings of the programs, which do not address the true processes and agents that control new settlements and especially illegal occupations and which fail to satisfy the needs of low-income population sectors.^ieng

[The population in a sociopolitical system in crisis: Mexico before the Revolution]. / La poblacion en un sistema sociopolitico en crisis: Mexico antes de la Revolucion.

PIP: The author reviews some of the literature on the Mexican Revolution in order to assess the impact of demographic change on the outcome of that conflict. Consideration is given to urbanization, spatial distribution, literacy, industrial growth and the employment opportunities it provided, and land conflicts caused by population growth. (SUMMARY IN ENG)^ieng

Andean settlers rush for Amazonia.

PIP: Governments of Andean countries (Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) have encouraged migration to the Amazon Basin, which has contributed to its destruction. Population pressure, landlessness, and poverty are the inducements to migrate. Efforts to populate the Amazon forest were begun as early as 1964 in Peru without international notice. By 1980, logging was allowed in Peru, and Brazil considered colonization of the Amazon essential to national sovereignty. By 1986, outside of Lima, Peru, a development project originally funded by the World Bank, the InterAmerican Development Bank, and the US, resulted in conflicts between settlers and Indians, in loggers indiscriminately cutting, and in farmers using slash and burn techniques to clear forests. Elsewhere the Peruvian Amazon, in San Ignacio, the population was growing by 5.5%/year. The jungle road that had been started but never completed, Carretera Marginal, destroyed 5 million hectares of primary forest, and much of the 600,000 hectares of arable land gained by the road suffered from inappropriate farming practices which caused massive erosion and laterization of the soils. Food crop production declined, and production of coca for cocaine increased. Coca crops are controlled by the Shining Path guerrillas, who are trying to overthrow the Peruvian government. Devastation of Ecuador around Lago Agrio continues. In Colombia, east of Bogota, forests have disappeared and hills have eroded and silted up rivers and dams. The Andean piedmont in Bolivia has also been devastated by loggers and by slash and burn farming. Southeastern Bolivian forests have been cleared for soya bean cultivation on poor soils. Social and economic crises propel people into the remaining forests. The solution is to ease foreign debt, transfer appropriate technology at affordable prices, refuse to finance destructive development, and help to educate and train scientific researchers. Family planning services are also urgently needed. Basic facts on population, biodiversity, the greenhouse effect, deforestation, roads, iron, gold, and Indians is provided.^ieng

Act No. 24994 of 19 January 1989. Basic Law on the Rural Development of the Peruvian Amazon Region.

PIP: This Act sets forth the government's policy on rural development of the Peruvian Amazon region. Major objectives of the Act include the promotion of new rural settlements in the Amazon region, the promotion of migration from the Andes to the Amazon region, and the stimulation of agriculture, livestock, and forestry activities in the Amazon region. The following are the means that the government will use, among others, to attain these goals: 1) the development of Population Displacement Programmes, which will give individual persons and families economic and logistic support in moving; 2) the establishment of Civic Colonizing Services, temporary mobile units, which will offer settlers health services, education services, technical assistance with respect to agriculture and livestock, and promotional credits; 3) the creation of the Council for Amazon River Transport to coordinate and recommend activities to improve river transport; 4) the granting to settlers of land, free education for their children, medical care, technical training and assistance with respect to agriculture, and a supply of seeds; 5) the exemption of certain investors from payment of income taxes; and 6) the granting of a wide range of incentives for agricultural production. The Act also creates a Council for Planning and Development in the Amazon Region to draw up and approve a Plan for the Development of the Amazon Region. It calls for the rational use of the natural resources of the Amazon Region in the framework of preserving the ecosystem and preventing its ruin and delegates to the regional governments the authority to enter into contracts on the use of forest materials and to undertake reforestation programs. Finally, the Act provides various guarantees for the native population, including guarantees with respect to land and preservation of ethnic and social identity.^ieng

Constitution, 5 October 1988.

PIP: This document contains major provisions of the constitution adopted by Brazil on 5 October 1988. This constitution seeks to promote the welfare of all citizens without discrimination. The equality of all citizens is guaranteed, and the equal rights of women are specifically mentioned. Property rights are also guaranteed and defined. Female inmates are granted the right to remain with their children while breast feeding. Workers are guaranteed a minimum wage, a family allowance for dependents, maternity/paternity leave, specific incentives to protect the labor market for women, retirement benefits, free day care for preschool-age children, pay equity, and equal rights between tenured and sporadically employed workers. Agrarian reform provisions are given, including the authority to expropriate land. Social and economic policies to promote health are called for, and public health services are to be decentralized, to be integrated, and to foster community participation. Pension plan and social assistance provisions are outlined as are duties of the state in regard to education. The amount of money to be dedicated to education is set out, and a national educational plan is called for to achieve such goals as the eradication of illiteracy, the universalization of school attendance, the improvement of instruction, and the provision of vocational training. Specific measures are set out to protect and preserve the environment. Family policy deals with issues of marriage, the definition of a family, divorce, the right to family planning services, and the deterrence of domestic violence. Social protection provisions cover mothers and children, handicapped persons, and protection of minors. Finally, the customs and rights of Indians are protected, with special provisions given to protect land tenure and to protect the rights of Indians in water resource development and prospecting and mining activities.^ieng

Decree No. 2.363 of 21 October 1987 abolishing the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform--INCRA, creating the Legal Institute of Rural Land--INTER, and other measures.

PIP: This Decree abolishes the Brazilian National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) and creates a Legal Institute of Rural Land (INTER) linked to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (MIRAD) to perform the activities of INCRA. MIRAD will henceforth be responsible for the rights, powers, and obligations of INCRA and will supervise INCRA's property and resources. In this capacity MIRAD will supervise, coordinate, and execute activities related to agrarian reform and agricultural policy. Among these activities are the promotion of social justice and productivity through 1) the just and adequate distribution of ownership of rural land, 2) limitation of the acquisition of rural property by foreigners, and 3) encouragement of the harmonious development of rural life. In developing such activities MIRAD is to make use of legal measures contained in land law, including those relating to the selection of public rural lands, the privatization of rural land through regularization of ownership, colonization, zoning, and taxation. It is also authorized to expropriate and distribute unexploited or improperly exploited land to worker families, with priority going to labor cooperatives. Further provisions establish rules on expropriation. Among these is the requirement that forests must be protected.^ieng