Yesterday, Brazilian
politicians took a decisive step towards
opening the door to massive new Amazon deforestation,
by voting in favor of radical changes to
the Brazilian Forest Code - the primary
legal instrument for protecting the Amazon.
If these changes become law they will let
hundreds of forest criminals off the hook,
and massively expand the amount of forest
under threat from the chainsaws. After yesterday's
vote, the bill needs Senate approval prior
to becoming law, and can then can only be
vetoed by President Dilma Roussef.
Greenpeace Brazil has issued a statement
outlining the implications of the changes
to the Forest Code and the state of the
Amazon as it faces further deforestation.
“The Amazon forest has
never been threatened as it is now. Yesterday
was a dark day for Brazil. It started with
the assassination by gunmen of José
Claudio Silva and Maria do Espírito
Santo, forest community leaders in the Amazon
state of Pará, and finished with
the news that most of Brazil’s politicians
in the Congress approved the assassination
of our forest legislation," said Paulo
Adario, director of the Amazon Campaign
for Greenpeace.
“This debate in parliament
is already having a devastating impact to
the Amazon forest and it's communities.
Government monitoring shows a huge spike
in deforestation over the last months compared
to last year. Farmers are rushing to cut
down forests, expecting that the new law
will protect them from being punished for
their past crimes. They’re also gambling
that the new rules will allow them to cut
down more forest in the future, and they’re
getting started before the ink is even dry.”
Illegal logging barons
are acting with impunity, as indicated through
the assassination of José Claudio
Silva and Maria do Espírito Santo,
his wife, shot near their home early yesterday
morning. A community leader, who collected
and sold Brazil nuts, José lived
with constant death threats and in an area
with considerable illegal timber extraction.
Relaxing forest rules will only increase
the risk to such communities, and to the
forest they depend on for their livelihoods.”
José and Maria's
killers must be brought to justice and forest
communities protected from such acts of
impunity. President Dilma must stop the
chainsaws by keeping the current forest
laws intact and getting tough with those
who are clearing the rainforest right now.
