NEW BRAZILIAN FOREST LAW HELPS FIGHT ILLEGAL DEFORESTATION

08/07/2005 – WWF-Brazil welcomes the decision by Brazil's Congress to approve a new public forest concessions law as an important step to fight illegal deforestation and to better manage public forests for sustainable production.
Under the law, a Brazilian forest service will be created to establish an annual concession plan of public forests for private use. The duration of the concessions will be defined according to the harvest cycle, with contracts being renewable for a maximum of 40 years. There will also be an independent auditing of the concessions, and all certifiers must be accredited by the forest service.

A National Forest Development Fund will also be created to manage funds derived from manging the public forest concession. The Forest Fund will receive 70 per cent of all income, with the other 30 per cent going to to Ibama, the country's official environmental agency, to be used for patrolling activities.

"Increased patrolling activities is very important," said Denise Hamu, WWF-Brazil’s CEO. "It is necessary that the government invest more in actions to encourage and support the forest sector."

The proposed law will now go to the Brazilian Senate for final approval. If all goes as expected, the first concessions may be signed in the second semester of 2006.