CONSERV
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FAQ

Concept

CONSERV is a compensation project for rural producers who have forest assets in their properties.

It is a private and voluntary mechanism, compensating rural landowners for maintaining their forest assets, which can be legally deforested.

The goal is to transform the forest into a financial asset, creating economic value in conservation and creating a new income option for the producer.

The agreement will operate for a predetermined period, and may or may not be renewed, according to the interest of the parties and the availability of resources.

CONSERV started its operation in August 2020 in Sapezal – a city of Mato Grosso – and in the coming months, it will expand its operation in two more locations.

The locations were established based on objective factors. Mato Grosso was chosen for CONSERV for three reasons: i) it leads grain and beef production in the country – the two most extensive rural activities practiced in Brazil; ii) it also has a large amount of forest assets, that is, beyond the legal requirements, of approximately 7 million hectares; and iii) Mato Grosso has a nonpartisan strategy for economic, environmental and social integration, called Produce, Conserve and Include (PCI).
Currently, rural producers have no incentives to keep these forest assets standing. However, these areas have an environmental role: deforestation impacts the climate and agricultural production itself, for example, changing rain patterns in the countryside. In addition, its conservation helps to conserve carbon stocks and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

By acknowledging the important role that rural producers can play in forest conservation, CONSERV offers an alternative to those who can and wish to maintain their forest assets preserved, besides developing a mechanism for its preservation.
No. CONSERV compensates rural producers who decide to conserve the forest area that could be legally removed, that is, the areas beyond the legal requirements. However, maintaining the legal reserve is a requirement for signing the contract.
No. In this first stage, in order to facilitate monitoring, drafting contracts and simplifying procedures, rural producers who are interested in taking part of CONSERV must contract all forest assets in their properties.
CONSERV is not a donation, but a business, a new income option for rural producers, who can benefit from their existing activities (such as meat and grain productions) and, now, from the preserved forest.

Besides, CONSERV is a voluntary mechanism.

hose interested in participating can register on the platform when CONSERV is operating in their municipality [link to platform] or by filling out a form in CONSERV’s website..
Contact the CONSERV team to request a presentation of the mechanism in your region and to be informed about the next steps.
IPAM is a non-profitresearch institute that has been studying, since 1995, the importance of maintaining forests for agricultural production and mitigating climate change. Each of the Institute’s projects is planned and executed with responsibility and based on analyses performed by specialized team.

The institute and its partners, Woodwell Climate Research Institute and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), believe conservation and production need to be aligned. One of the Institute’s research topics is on how to foster systems in which the standing forests have financial value.

In this regard, CONSERV is a model that, after three years of studies and dialogues with rural producers, tests targeted compensation to avoiding deforestation which could occur legally. Other research from IPAM, besides CONSERV, also foster mechanisms to value standing forests, such as our work to promote Payment for Environmental Services in the congress, among other mechanisms.
There is scientific consensus that native vegetation is essential in maintaining local, regional and global climate conditions, being essential to maintain the rain cycle and the predictability of production, which, for the most part, is not irrigated.

In addition, those trees conserve carbon stocks, that, if emitted, would accelerate the process of climate change. Thus, it is necessary to preserve those areas and to create mechanisms to sustain their conservation, including sustainable land use and recognizing other ecosystem services in the region.

Avoiding deforestation is more efficient than restoring already degraded areas, since all ecosystem services present in the native vegetation are preserved, and not just carbon.

After proving that native vegetation has this fundamental role, and that, therefore, it has a value, we began debating ways to preserve these forests, also with an economic logic. In recent years, a conservation-oriented market has grown worldwide, and the forest appears as an asset in investment portfolios.

CONSERV offers investors a simple and effective alternative, with verified results and positive impacts in the field.

Operation

CONSERV is a private and voluntary mechanism that attributes a value for forest assets on rural properties according to a series of criteria. The amount to be paid is established by technical and objective factors..

After the screening has started, if the producers are qualified, they sign a contract that states which area must be preserved and the agreed value for conservation which will be paid during the contract.

The entry of producers in CONSERV in each location is subject to the availability of resources.

See here a video explaining the business model applied to CONSERV.

We seek a balance between compensating the conservation efforts of the rural producer and the alternative use of the soil. This amount will be negotiated according to some fundamental parameters: regional lease prices for agricultural lands; environmental assets of the contracted areas; and priority index for conservation.
No. CONSERV is not a lease, as there no transfer of responsibilities over the contracted areas. In other words, the producers remain responsible for keeping the vegetation intact. On the other hand, there is, indeed, a financial compensation for the conservation of the negotiated assets.

The CONSERV’s agreement is based on the lease one. However, in this proposed model, the rural owner is paid for maintaining the area of forest assets and is responsible for conserving it during the contract.
In this initial phase, CONSERV selects farmers from three Brazilian locations to be part of the mechanism. The contract has a predetermined period, which can be extended if there is interest from both parties. After the screening has started, if the producers are qualified, a contract is signed that states which area must be preserved and their compensation during the term of the agreement.

To participate in CONSERV, it is necessary to have a property with native vegetation in one of the three locations where the mechanism operates. Additionally, the producer must own the land (land tenure compliance) and have no environmental or social offenses.
The agreement is valid for predetermined period. It can be renewed whether both parties are interested and there are available resources.
Payments are made every six months, after monitoring by the CONSERV team.
Monitoring is done at two levels: remote and, when necessary, in person. A platform allows periodic monitoring of the contracted properties, to verify contractual compliance, also allowing interaction between the rural producer and CONSERV, to simplify communication between the parties.

In case of any problems or doubts, the project team will visit the property.
At this moment, CONSERV considers the size of the asset to be conserved and contracted and requires a forest asset of at least 200 hectares. This occurs due to transaction costs in the drafting contracts, in the monitoring of contracted properties and in the payment.

The team is studying the possibility of making the mechanism possible also for small rural producers.
There is an incidence of taxes in the donation. The producer, however, will receive a net amount after deducting taxes.
IPAM is responsible, since CONSERV is a project developed by the institute.
No. At this stage, CONSERV does not compensate reforestation.
During the term of the contract, no activity that degrades or reduces the contracted area will be allowed.

Exceptionalities

Once part of CONSERV, the producer assumes the responsibility of maintaining the contracted area preserved. This implies fire containment actions, which will be determined by the agreement.

In case of fires, the contract will be suspended and, after an evaluation by CONSERV team, the contract can be summarized, suspended or canceled, subject to a fine if the producer does not take actions to prevent the spread of the fire.
CONSERV establishes a contractual relationship for a predetermined period. The conditions for terminating the agreement will depend on your motivation. In situations where there is a non-compliance of the contract, penalties will be applied. If the reason is of force majeure, a case by case analysis will be made.
At CONSERV there is no change of the property use rights. However, if there is any process of selling the farm, it will be necessary to contact the CONSERV team and request the termination of the contract.

Another option is to sell the land with the agreement: where the buyer acquires the property where CONSERV agreement is part of the deal. To make such a transfer, the producer must notify CONSERV team before the sale.
In principle, the agreement is suspended and, after analyzing the clause in question, it may be canceled in part or in full, with the risk of a fine in both cases.
The CONSERV team will perform an analysis that may result in renegotiation or cancellation of the contract with penalties.

CONSERV does not change current regulations and legislation regarding the legal reserve.

Contact

The website has a channel for contacting the team, through which it is possible to send any questions regarding CONSERV. Feel free to Contact us.

From the signing of the contract, the landowners also have at their disposal a directed communication system, part of an exclusive platform for project participants. [LINK SOON]

Yes. The website has an area dedicated to the ombudsman, in which it is possible to send compliments, suggestions and complaints. Identity will be preserved.

Realization
IPAM
Woodwell Climate Research Center
EDF
Support
NICFI
Reino dos Países Baixos
CONSERV