Payments for Environmental Services and environmental regularization: analysis of rural properties in southern Amazonas for the Floresta+ Amazônia Project

With global temperatures rising and deforestation advancing in the Amazon, viable strategies such as Payment for Environmental Services (PES) are essential for climate change. We analyzed the environmental situation of rural properties in the southern region of Amazonas (Apuí, Borba, Boca do Acre, Canutama, Humaitá, Lábrea, Manicoré, Novo Aripuanã, Pauini and Tapauá) during 2020 and 2021. We consulted the Rural Environmental Registry System (SICAR) platform to identify properties with surplus native vegetation in Legal Reserve (RL) areas and areas with altered vegetation cover in Permanent Preservation Areas (APP). Of the 77 rural properties, 50 did not meet the requirements of the Forest + Conservation and Forest + Recovery modalities due to irregularities in registration or ownership. In the Forest+ Conservation modality, 11 had a surplus RL area, totaling 92 hectares conserved, while 16, classified in the Forest+ Recovery modality, had changes to the APP, totaling 84 hectares to be recovered. There is a need to improve SICAR's verification mechanisms for the inconsistencies declared by landowners. The intense agricultural, livestock and extractive activities in the region reinforce the importance of monitoring to combat deforestation. The Floresta+ Amazônia Project is an initiative to regularize rural properties and conserve biodiversity in the region.