07/05/2010
- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva announced a national program
to promote the sustainable production of
palm oil in Brazil. A key measure of the
plan is a proposed bill forbidding the cultivation
of palm oil in any area with native vegetation,
including the Amazon region. If the bill
is passed by the National Congress, palm
oil cultivation will only be allowed in
areas already deforested in the past, especially
degraded land areas. In addition, the Program
for Sustainable Production of Palm Oil establishes
conditional credit lines and technical assistance
for producers as well as funds for agricultural
research and innovation.
"The Program for
the Sustainable Production of Palm Oil launched
by Brazil today is unlike any other framework
in the world. It is designed to utilize
degraded lands and prohibits the expansion
of production in forest areas, thus helping
to fight deforestation - which converges
with the Amazon Ecological-Economic Macrozoning
law. Sustainable growth and environmental
protection is a top national priority for
Brazil", said minister of the Environment
Izabella Teixeira.
Brazil currently imports
more than half of the palm oil it consumes
each year. Palm oil is used in chemical,
food, and cleaning product manufacturing
as a raw material in soaps, shampoos, detergents,
cooking oils and biofuels.
Sustainability - The
most significant component of the program
is the proposed bill outlining new agro-ecological
zoning rules for palm oil, coordinated by
the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
(Embrapa). According to these zoning rules,
the cultivation of palm oil will be restricted
to land that is already occupied by humans,
with an emphasis on degraded or low productivity
areas. The bill expressly prohibits the
clearance of native vegetation for palm
production. As a result, palm farming is
forbidden in 96.3 percent of Brazils land
mass, with total area suitable for the production
of palm oil under these guidelines comprising
31.8 million hectares. Currently, only 70,000
hectares of Brazil's land is used for palm
oil cultivation.
The zoning measures
aim to promote the recovery of deforested
areas, since the high profitability of palm
farming will incentivize producers to reforest
part of their lands with native plant species
in order to become eligible to plant palm.
The Brazilian Forestry Code mandates that
rural properties must preserve between 20
to 80 percent of their native vegetation.
In addition, a significant
segment of the land identified as high potential
areas for palm oil cultivation is located
in the country's northern region, a priority
area for national efforts to prevent and
curb deforestation. Palm oil production
offers the local population a sustainable
economic alternative to deforestation with
a significant economic incentive: according
to the Ministry of Agriculture, palm cultivation
generates a job per every 10 hectares, which
is triple the average number of jobs generated
in the agriculture sector in Brazil.
The bill also proposes
new regulations and penalties. For example,
companies using palm oil from regions not
included in the zoning could now face the
possibility of losing their environmental
license. Furthermore, oil producers will
now be required to register with the Ministry
of Agriculture, making them subject to inspection
by government officials. Producers who ignore
the law can be fined up to R$ 1 million
(US$ 570,000), have their property embargoed,
and their machinery and products seized.
To ensure compliance
with zoning laws, Brazil uses satellite
monitoring for near real-time detection
of deforestation in the Amazon, an essential
tool in preventing illegal felling. Satellite
imagery analyzed by the National Institute
for Space Research (INPE) enables the Brazilian
Institute for the Environment and Renewable
Resources (IBAMA) to enforce laws accurately
and quickly to prevent the spread of deforestation.
Research and credit
- The program also allocates R$ 60 million
(US$ 34 million) for research, development
and innovation to expand the national capacity
to produce oil palm shoots and seeds. The
studies will be coordinated by Embrapa and
include partnerships with international
centers of excellence.
In addition, small farmers,
rural producers and cooperatives will be
offered technical assistance towards sustainable
palm production adapted to the Amazon biome,
and credit lines with financing of up to
R$ 400,000 (US$ 228,000) to facilitate palm
oil planting, maintenance, labor, and the
implementation of seedling nurseries for
native species. Projects to recover degraded
areas will be granted added incentives,
including higher financing ceilings and
lower interest rates.
+ More
World Cup: ministries
of Environment and Sports sign cooperation
agreement
03/05/2010 - Brazil
intends to become a world reference when
it comes to sustainability. The country
will transform the World Cup, in 2014, and
the Olympic Games, in 2016, in examples
of "green events", establishing
environmental criteria for the projects
to be built for these competitions.
On Thursday (April 29),
the ministers of the Environment, Izabella
Teixeira, and Sports, Orlando Silva, signed
a technical cooperation agreement to create
and implement a sustainable agenda in the
coming years. The initiative has the support
of the Brazilian Association of Environmental
State Entities (ABEMA) and the National
Association of Environmental Municipal Agencies
(ANAMMA).
The partnership will
facilitate the environmental licensing of
projects to avoid delays in the work schedule.
The idea is to promote dialogue between
those responsible for the works with those
responsible for the environmental licensing
in the search for joint solutions for the
protection of the environment.
At the ceremony, Izabella
Teixeira highlighted the importance of technical
cooperation between the two ministries,
and said she had just returned from South
Africa, where she saw what that country
has achieved, in environmental terms, for
the tournament which begins next June.
A working group will
be responsible for developing a sustainable
agenda, with proposals for sustainable policies
for the World Cup and for the Olympic Games
in Brazil. The group will also seek partnerships
to implement successful experiences of previous
events. For minister Orlando Silva, the
initiative highlights the importance of
environmental issues in the country.
