Civil society influences the revision of Mato Grosso’s state action plan
Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) initially assessed the state action plan to reduce deforestation (Plano de Prevenção e Controle do Desmatamento e das Queimadas (PPCDQ-MT)) in 2012 as part of its Norad-funded GFI activities. Mato Grosso consistently has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the Amazon, thus state government actions to reduce deforestation threats are critical to slowing this trend. ICV’s initial assessment found that implementation of the plan was weak. They demonstrated significant governance challenges including lack of transparency, poor coordination, and limited capacity of institutional actors to carry out their roles and responsibilities in the plan.
Building on this assessment, ICV worked to influence the process to revise the state action plan for the 2014-2016 period. They worked to ensure that the review process was more transparent, including an online public comment period, and solicited input from 24 government agencies as well as other stakeholder groups. The new plan incorporates numerous ICV recommendations, including setting more specific priorities, new monitoring tools, and realistic targets that are aligned with government capacity for implementation.
While it will be necessary to continue tracking implementation of the revised plan, ICV’s efforts highlight the importance of generating credible evidence to influence policy-making processes and the value in working collaboratively with government actors to strengthen design and implementation of policies.