Sustainable Land Regularization - Social, Economic and Environmental Transformation
- Conflict resolution
- Community development
- Economic development
- Land rights
- Infrastructure
- Poverty alleviation
- Urban development
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Terra Nova Regularizações Fundiárias
+55 41 3074 0800
Rua Ângelo Stival, 57, Santa Felicidade, Curitiba
, PR
More than 5 years
, PR
Terra Nova plans to expand its services to the major metropolitan areas of Brazil. To do this, we are seeking partnerships with financial institutions to support this growth. Currently, our service fee is a percentage of the indemnification payments the residents make to the land owner. These payments are made over an average 8 year period yet our firm incurs most of its costs in the period before the first payment is made. This has limited Terra Nova’s ability to grow at the pace we desire. We are currently seeking partnerships with banking institutions to finance the residents. This would provide Terra Nova with its service fee upfront, enabling a much more rapid expansion to serve an estimated 90,000 families in 5 years
A partnership with such an institution would enable Terra Nova to expand much more rapidly in its target markets (São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) and achieve the following results in the next 3 years:
Year 1 – Serve over 25,000 families*, transform dead assets into capital ~ $324 million
Year 2 – Serve over 29,000 families*, transform dead assets into capital ~ $377 million
Year 3 – Serve over 45,000 families*, transform dead assets into capital ~ $580 million
*accumulated up from 20,000 today
More than 10,000
$100 ‐ 1000
Yes
Yes, we are constantly in discussions with government agencies and leading seminars to disseminate our technical knowledge.
Operating for more than 5 years
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Terra Nova is at an important inflection point to scale and requires capital to grow.
The most critical partnership for Terra Nova is one that would provide for the discounting of our receivables portfolio. This would resolve our greatest challenge - a cash flow mismatch, enabling Terra Nova to grow much more rapidly than it has to date. It would also provide greater flexibility to enhance our Community Fund. A percentage of Terra Nova’s fees are allocated to this fund for the benefit of the occupants. Its proceeds are used for projects they deem necessary which are beyond the scope of the government’s initiative (e.g., community centers, daycare facilities, etc).
Terra Nova is currently financed through private capital and short term bank loans. We are negotiating the possibility of long term financing to better match the firm’s current revenue stream.
We seek partnerships with financial institutions to 1) create “housing microcredit” programs or 2) securitize our receivables portfolio to attract investors seeking financial and social returns. This type of alliance would allow for the development and implementation of a formal training program to continuously capacitate new operating teams, creating the necessary structure to replicate its model in various cities simultaneously throughout the country. As such we could scale more quickly and expand our services to implement more infrastructure or additional social and environmental projects.
Terra Nova receives a percentage of the monthly indemnification payment made by each household to the land owner. The total amount Terra Nova receives from each occupant averages R$5,000 (~US $2,950), paid in monthly sums averaging R$50. For this service fee, Terra Nova manages all aspects of the regularization process including the legal, environmental, social, economic and urban aspects. Special conditions are made for those families unable to pay this amount, so that they may participate in the regularization process (e.g., reduction of monthly installments and increase in tenor). An additional amount may be allocated to the Community Fund for the implementation of certain public works or the relocation of families in areas considered at risk, for example.
I began my career working at the town hall of Pinhais, in the metropolitan area of Curitiba, Paraná working on environmental projects. After one year, I was appointed to the ministry of social work to establish and preside over its housing agency. It was at this time that I began my work in mediating conflicts between land owners and occupants who were being threatened with forced removal. Shortly thereafter, a change in administration resulted in the termination of the housing agency by the new mayor. This is when I decided to create Terra Nova to continue the work so important to these communities.
Since I was an adolescent, I felt the need to do something to improve the quality of living of people in need definitively and on a global scale. I studied environmental law and later found a natural vocation for mediating conflicts and promoting agreements while practicing law. I also dedicated substantial time and energy on my personal growth, to better understand myself and humanity. After graduating, I worked and lived at the International Holistic University of Brasilia where I learned of various philosophies and religions that helped me understand the higher purpose of humankind in this world.
I strive to transmit hope and confidence that we can live in a different world where every human has their basic needs satisfied. My goal is to encourage others in joining Terra Nova’s mission for sustainably promoting peace and quality of life for those in need.
Personal contact at Changemakers
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Policy advocacy to strengthen property rights or increase security of tenure, Formalizing and documenting property rights (i.e. titling, leasing or certification), Legal education and awareness, Developing/applying technology for surveying, mapping and documenting property rights.
We formalize property rights which includes mapping and surveying of the area, developing the urban plan, managing the legal process, engaging/educating the community leadership/members and coordinating the public works initiatives with the local governments. We are constantly in discussions with government agencies and leading seminars to disseminate our technical knowledge.