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ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL:
Destruction - But
Also Hope - in the Amazon
Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO, (
Tierramérica) - We are facing
''the last great opportunity''
to change the path of recent
history in the Brazilian Amazon,
and the next two years will be
decisive for halting
deforestation, the chaos of land
titles and rural violence, says
Brazilian expert Adalberto
Veríssimo.
His assessment comes from his 15
years of experience researching
Amazon-related issues and from
the latest report by the
non-governmental group he
coordinates, the Institute of
People and the Environment in
the Amazon (IMAZON).
The report is an update of
''Forest Facts in the Brazilian
Amazon'', published in 2003, and
will be released at the end of
March, but Veríssimo shared some
of its conclusions with
Tierramérica.
The document reiterates some of
the bad news from earlier
reports, like the total annual
destruction of the Amazon
reaching areas as large as
Belgium or Haiti, and reveals
some new facts, like the advance
of wood harvesting that has
extended deep into the heart of
the Amazon.
Areas where forest exploitation
was incipient just a few years
ago, such as the southeastern
state of Amazonas and Pará in
the west, are now major focal
points of logging activity, said
Veríssimo.
The loggers are pushing back the
''arc of deforestation'', and
the cleared areas are filled in
by ranches and farms, said the
expert.
But there are also some
encouraging data in the IMAZON
text: the production of lumber
from the Amazon fell 26 million
cubic metres in 2004, two
million less than the previous
year -- which represents some
700,000 trees that were not cut
down.
That decline is due to improved
industrialisation, which adds
greater value to the wood in
meeting the demands of the
foreign market.
Furthermore, as the logging
frontier cuts deeper into the
Amazon, there is more careful
selection of trees to fell, and
better use of raw material,
because transportation costs are
higher, according to the study.
Another piece of good news is
that sustainable management of
Amazon forests is increasing at
a rapid pace.
The areas certified for
sustainable management totaled
80,000 hectares in 1997, growing
to 400,000 hectares in 2002 and
to 1.8 million hectares in 2004
-- the largest area in the
world's tropical forests.
By 2010 it could reach 10
million certified hectares if
the problem of land titles in
the Amazon region is resolved,
predicts Veríssimo, based on the
interest the private sector has
expressed in sustainable
management.
Also boosting hopes is a package
of measures announced by the
government to deal with the
unrest triggered by the Feb. 12
assassination of Dorothy Stang.
The U.S.-born Catholic
missionary and naturalised
Brazilian had spent half of her
73 years defending the poor
people of rural Pará and
sustainable development in the
Eastern Amazon.
The creation of five new
conservation areas covering a
total of 5.2 million hectares; a
ban on harmful activities on 8.2
million hectares west of the
BR-163 highway that crosses
western Pará; and the
legislative bill on Public
Forest Management are crucial
for ''changing the path'' of the
Amazon's fate and fighting
deforestation, Veríssimo said.
But these policies must be
implemented ''with strength and
persistence,'' he added.
There is also a previous measure
that is essential: creating a
registry of Amazon lands in
order to regulate a situation
that has fallen into chaos.
Most of the land in the region
is public, but lacks official
registry, and much of it has
been taken over by ''grileiros''
(usurpers), which has fueled
conflict and violence -- to
which Stang fell victim.
But not everyone shares the
optimism -- cautious as it is --
of Veríssimo.
''They are good measures, but
too little too late,'' according
to Roberto Smeraldi, coordinator
of the non-governmental
organisation Friends of the
Earth-Brazilian Amazon. He says
the government may be too weak
to implement the policies
effectively.
An estimated 45 percent of the
logging in the Amazon is
illegal, but ''taking into
account the illegal logging on
invaded public lands, the
percentage reaches 97.5
percent,'' although a good part
of that is ''legalised'' by
undue official authorisations,
says Smeraldi.
Environmentalists and
researchers agree that
containing deforestation
requires developing economic
alternatives that maintain the
forests intact and which are
competitive with the
agricultural businesses that
fill in the deforested lands.
Legal and sustainable logging is
one of the most viable ways,
says Veríssimo.
That option is gaining ground
even amongst logging businesses.
''The informal, illegal
practices undermine the economy
with unfair competition,'' Ivan
Tomaselli, vice-president of
ABIMCI, a Brazilian processed
lumber industry association,
told Tierramérica.
The disorder in land titles
means ''legal insecurity and
high risks,'' such that
investment in this sector is
only justified if profits are
going to be very high, he said.
Illegally harvested lumber in
the Amazon, according to
Tomaselli, today represents just
20 percent of the total,
compared to 80 percent in the
past. The proportion of wood
certified under best forestry
practices is growing, said the
businessman, because it has a
''competitive advantage'' in
major markets like Europe and
the United States.
The requirement for
certification from the Forest
Stewardship Council is the best
stimulus against illegal logging
because the rules of the
Convention on International
Trade of Endangered Species
(CITES) and the International
Tropical Timber Organisation are
limited and not specific enough,
according to Friends of the
Earth's Smeraldi.
The greatest positive impact
could come from the World Trade
Organisation, if it makes legal
logging and sustainable
practices a priority, says
Veríssimo.
But most of the lumber from the
Amazon -- 70 to 75 percent -- is
destined for the national
market, he said. That is why
local environmentalists are
seeking requirements for
certification within Brazil.
The Cities Friends of the Amazon
programme works with municipal
governments and major
contractors to convince them to
use only wood that comes from
legal sources, and preferably
certified, in their public works
projects.
The idea has been well received.
The bigger outlying cities in
Sao Paulo state have already
signed on, ''and now we are
looking to bring in the major
metropolises like Rio de Janeiro
and Sao Paulo itself,''
programme activist Rebeca Lerer
told Tierramérica.
(*Originally published Mar. 5 by
Latin American newspapers that
are part of the Tierramérica
network. Tierramérica is a
specialised news service
produced by IPS with the backing
of the United Nations
Development Programme and the
United Nations |
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