02 April 2008 - Brazil
— Despite a recent increase in deforestation
in the Amazon, there is a glimmer of hope
that the destruction can
be halted.
In 2006, we joined forces
with the local community in Santarém,
Brazil, to exposed the role of soya farming
in the destruction of the Amazon.
Soon after, the Brazilian
soya traders, in concert with Greenpeace
and McDonald's, announced a landmark moratorium
on the purchase of soya grown on newly deforested
land.
As part of the moratorium,
the soya traders, which combined account
for 90 percent of all Brazilian soya exports,
agreed not to buy any soya grown on newly
deforested land for a period of two years.
A system of monitoring
newly deforested areas is being put in place
to ensure compliance with the historic agreement.
The first field evaluation
has now been completed and it shows that
the soya produced last year in the Brazilian
Amazon has not come from newly deforested
areas. In other words, the moratorium is
holding well, despite the pressure from
rising soya prices.
This is in stark contrast
to the recent news that after three years
of decline, Amazon deforestation rates doubled
to a new record level in the second half
of last year compared to the same period
the year before.
Monitoring was carried
out using data supplied from the National
Institute for Spatial Research (PRODES).
Newly deforested areas larger than 100 hectares
(250 acres) were examined in the states
of Rondônia, Pará and Mato
Grosso, which together account for almost
all the soya plantations in the Brazilian
Amazon.
The current moratorium
ends in July this year. Greenpeace carried
out its own aerial survey of some of the
areas covered by PRODES and while we confirmed
the results it also showed that some recent
deforestation can be found in areas owned
by soya farmers: raising the concern that
the destruction of the Amazon for soya could
begin all over again if the moratorium is
not extended in time.
"The challenge
now faced by the trading companies is how
they can reinforce their commitment to the
moratorium on deforestation and help the
Brazilian authorities and civil society
to put an end to the destruction of the
forests on which everyone's livelihood depends
at a time when higher soya prices are stimulating
farmers to increase their plantations",
said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign
Coordinator.
Deforestation is a major
contributor to climate change, causing about
20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Brazil is the world's 4th largest contributor
to global warming, mainly due to deforestation
and land clearing in the Amazon.
It is vital that the
moratorium is now extended, as it is a key
component in protecting the Amazon and combating
climate change.
