23/07/2010 On Thursday,
July 22, Minister of the Environment Izabella
Teixeira announced data on native vegetation
suppression in the Pampa biome - consolidated
for the first time - and on Amazon deforestation,
that between August 2009 and May 2010 was
47% lower than the
same period of 2008/2009. The record-breaking
figures are even greater than the 42% reduction
recorded by satellite by the National Institute
for Space Research (INPE) last year.
A total of 54% of the
Pampa original coverage was suppressed along
its occupation history. Between 2002 and
2008, 36,400 hectares were lost annually,
which means 1.23%. "We knew that there
were losses, but had not yet consolidated
data. Now, we are investigating the causes
of these losses" the Minister said.
One of the reasons is reforestation with
exotic species planted for paper manufacturing.
Data were obtained by the Ministry of the
Environment based on maps provided by Landsat
satellite.
In order to tackle the
problem, the Ministry of the Environment
proposes the creation of new conservation
units in the biome, the adoption of good
practices in agriculture and farming, and
the enforcement of the economic-ecological
zoning guidelines, recently formulated by
the Council for the Environment of Rio Grande
do Sul state.
Izabella Teixeira mentioned
that, for the first time, there is "a
general picture about the biomes of the
country". Only data on the Atlantic
Forest are still missing, but they shall
be announced next month.
Reduction of deforestation
was recorded in all states except Amazonas,
which had an increase of 6%. The Ministry
of the Environment will investigate the
reasons, starting with Lábrea, a
municipality that is among the 14 leaders
in deforestation. The accumulated deforestation
in the biome was 2,958.30 sq km between
August 2008 and May 2009, and 1,564.81 sq
km in the same months between 2009 and 2010.
According to monitoring conducted last May,
states with the highest deforestation figures
are Mato Grosso (51.9 sq km), Pará
(37.2 sq km), Rondônia (10.7 sq km)
and Amazonas (9.8 sq km).
The Minister estimates
that the reduction is a trend that has been
consolidated by several factors, including
state actions and surveillance operations
involving the Federal Police, the Federal
Highway Police, the National Force, and
the Office of the Chief of Staff. Luciano
Evaristo, IBAMA's Director of Environmental
Protection, announced that 14 operations
against deforestation are underway in the
Amazon today. He said there will be 226
throughout this year, with 65 sawmills already
closed in the region, and 195 trucks, 59
tractors and 103 cubic meters of timber
seized between August and May.
+ More
Ministers from BASIC
countries discuss criteria to curb climate
change
25/07/2010 Maiesse Gramacho
Ministers of the Environment from Brazil,
South Africa, India and China met today
(July 25) in Rio de Janeiro for the Fourth
BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change,
which continues the programming started
on Friday (23), with the meeting of experts
and negotiators, to discuss how to curb
global warming.
Minister Izabella Teixeira
chaired the meeting and welcomed Ministers
Buyelwa Sonjica, from South Africa; Ranesh
Jairam, from India; and Xie Zhenhua, from
China. The Brazilian Minister stressed that
the meeting in Rio de Janeiro resumes the
discussions of the third meeting of the
BASIC Group, held in Cape Town, last April.
During the meeting,
the ministers, negotiators and experts will
discuss criteria for determining the volume
of greenhouse gases each one of the participating
countries can still deliver at the atmosphere
in the next years. Brazil recognizes that
2ºC is the maximum that the planet's
average temperature can be increased. However,
the increased concentration of gases in
the atmosphere has favoured global warming.
On Monday (July 26),
at 11h30, the Ministers participate in a
press conference at the end of the meeting
to present the results of this fourth BASIC
meeting.
