Civil society asks Conama not to vote on a proposal that would hinder registration of NGOs

Organisations expressed their concern about a proposed change to the National Register of Environmental Organisations, in a letter prior to the body´s regular meeting

Foto: Paulo de Araújo/MMA

Civil society organisations, including Conectas, sent an open letter to the board of Conama (National Environmental Committee) asking the body to remove from the agenda of the 136th Regular Meeting, a proposal to modify resolution nº 292/2002. The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday (10). The resolution regulates the registration and re-registration of environmental organisations on the CNEA (National Register of Environmental Organisations).

The following are among the proposed changes: the need for a technical team with experience in specific areas; a technical certificate attesting to experience in socio-environmental research and the need for yearly re-registration.

The organisations that signed the letter see this “proposal for change as bringing an excessive level of bureaucracy, making complex and highly subjective demands in order for organisations to be able to register”. With this, organisations that work on scientific research and small and medium-sized organisations that do not have sufficient administrative infrastructure to meet the heavy burden of re-registering on a yearly basis, will be excluded.