13 Aug 2007 - Brasilia,
Brazil – Deforestation rates in the Brazilian
Amazon have dropped by 25%.
According to Brazil’s environment ministry,
an estimated 14,039km2 of forests were cleared
in the year ended 31 July 2006, compared
to a 18,793km2 the previous year.
Preliminary data for this year shows deforestation
down to 9,600km2.
“The decline in the deforestation rate
is positive, but we still don’t have a policy
for the Amazon to address conservation and
development,” said Denise Hamú, CEO
of WWF-Brazil.
“Brazil needs clear reduction goals. It
remains to be seen whether the government
really wants to keep this trend and reach
levels of deforestation near zero.”
A zero per cent deforestation could prove
challenging considering Brazil’s Growth
Acceleration Programme, an initiative by
the Brazilian government to accelerate economic
activity through increased public sector
investment, particularly in infrastructure
projects such as roads and dams.
Forest law
One important instrument to guarantee the
sustainable development and the steady decline
of the deforestation rate is the implementation
of the recently approved Public Forest Management
Law, says WWF.
Signed by President da Silva on 2 March
2006, the law establishes the legal framework
for concessions in national forests and
forests located on public land. Under the
law, the government will open up some forest
areas through 40-year contracts. These contracts,
to be tendered, will allow the highest bidders
to log trees under a sustainable development
plan.
Social and environmental organizations,
including WWF, have for years been pushing
for a way to halt the process of illegal
occupation and deforestation of the Brazilian
Amazon by ranchers and agribusiness, protect
the rights of local residents, and conserve
irreplaceable biodiversity found within
the Brazilian Amazon.
“This law represents a big step towards
the modernization of Brazil’s forestry system,”
Hamú said.
“Carried out in the right way, sustainable
forestry activities can generate income,
ensure a plentiful supply of timber in the
long term, and ensure that forests continue
to be ecologically functional,”
That is why many of WWF’s activities are
designed to improve forestry practices,
in addition to seeking more protection.
WWF-Brazil is part of the Amazon Region
Protected Areas (ARPA) programme — a partnership
between the Brazilian government, the World
Bank, Global Environment Facility, German
Development Bank and the Brazilian Biodiversity
Fund — which has helped create some 20 million
hectares of protected areas in the Amazon.
Rebeca Kritsch, WWF-Brazil
