Billboards scattered along the sides of highways that cut through the largest soybean farms in Brazil carried a clear message: \u201cMato Grosso out of the Legal Amazon \u2013 we want to grow and produce.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time they were installed in 2020, the state\u2019s rural producers\u2019 manifesto for the state to no longer be designated part of the Legal Amazon \u2014 the administrative region that comprises nine Brazilian states in the Amazon rainforest and basin \u2013 caused outrage<\/a> on social media. But, over time, the notion of a Mato Grosso \u201cexit\u201d retreated from the spotlight. But now, as the country\u2019s elections draw near, the demand has returned to the fore, this time reaching the national capital, Brasilia.<\/p>\n Supported by the ruralist benches of Brazil\u2019s congress, federal deputy Juarez Costa, who is himself seeking re-election<\/a>, presented Bill 337\/2022 on 22 February. If approved, the law will exclude Mato Grosso from the list of states that make up the Legal Amazon.<\/p>\n The Legal Amazon was established<\/a> by federal law in 1953 to support economic planning, and is complemented by other norms for the protection of the biome.<\/p>\n In 1965, the Forest Code<\/a> determined that rural landowners must protect 50% of Amazon vegetation within their farms, the so-called \u201clegal reserve\u201d. In 2012, a revision of the code raised this protection to 80%.<\/p>\n With the exclusion of Mato Grosso from the Legal Amazon, ruralists in the state \u2013 which is the country\u2019s largest agricultural producer<\/a> \u2013 would have to protect only 20% of the rainforest within their properties, as already occurs in other Brazilian regions.<\/span><\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/7NjO5NRFWN<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Andr\u00e9 Trigueiro (@andretrig) September 21, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n