ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Threats to Amazon Unite Gov’t and Activists

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, May 24 2000 (IPS) - The government and the environmental movement have apparently joined forces in a parliamentary battle underway in Brazil, the outcome of which could intensify deforestation activities in the Amazon and the country’s savannahs.

This tenuous alliance came about in response to the National Congress’s debate on passage of the Forestry Code that would permit landowners to more than double the among of deforested area on their property, which would be a “disaster,” according to environmental activists.

The event that mobilised the government and a major portion of public opinion was a parliamentary commission’s approval on May 10 of a bill that would establish a reduction of the minimum area of forest reserve on rural Amazonian properties from 80 to 50 percent, and from 35 to 20 percent in what are known as ‘cerrados’ (the Brazilian savannah).

But parliamentary leaders, backed by the government, decided to annul the commission’s decision and redo all the paperwork after being bombarded with protests from various social sectors to reject the bill presented by Deputy Moacir Micheletto.

Dominated by rural legislators and landowner representatives, the commission had approved Micheletto’s bill with a vote of 10 to three. The initiative also included measures to facilitate the further penetration of livestock and farming in the forested areas.

That bill seems to have completely ignored a Forestry Code bill drafted by the National Environmental Council (Conama) in a debate process that included the participation of 800 institutions in nearly 100 meetings held in 20 of the 27 Brazilian states.

“The scare was a positive thing” because it triggered a national reaction, reaching environmental officials, the academic world, the press and even children, commented Robert Smeraldi, local co-ordinator of the non-governmental organisation Friends of the Earth.

He pointed out that 14 editorials against the Micheletto bill have been published in the last 13 days in newspapers throughout the country.

Environmental minister José Sarney Filho promised to present president Fernando Henrique Cardoso with a Provisional Measure (a decree-law that is valid for 30 days and renewable) in the next few days, with the Conama-approved bill, which “is consensual and reflects the desires of Brazilian society.”

This measure would substitute the statute that has been in effect for the last four years. In addition to maintaining forest reserves at their same proportions, it establishes stricter rules, eliminating some of the previous “flexibilities,” such as compensating excessive deforestation on one property by maintaining forested areas on another, explained André Lima, attorney for the non-governmental Socio-Environmental Institute.

Congressional leaders announced that within a month or two they would create a new committee to study the Provisional Measure and provide the text that would go to full vote, which would become a permanent law.

The new committee would be made up of 28 deputies and senators, twice the size of the previous committee. It is an attempt to balance representation and eliminate the “ruralist” majority, though the speaker would still be Deputy Micheletto, who is linked to landowner interests.

“We have won a preliminary victory” by annulling a disastrous resolution, but “we have not yet won the war,” warned Lima, because the threat of a deficient Forestry Code is still pending.

Congress will make its decision under pressures from all sides, and the landowner bloc of representatives is very influential, he explained.

When the special commission voted May 10, for example, the government did not take action against the Micheletto bill because it feared losing the support of the ruralists, whose votes were necessary to prevent an increase in the minimum wage, an issue also up for vote that day. If the minimum wage bill had passed, it would have hurt the governments fiscal adjustment measures.

The game starts over from square one, and now there will be time for  a more objective debate that is not restricted by parliamentary manoeuvres,  nor by the crisis of trying to prevent passage of a destructive law, said Smeraldi.

Rules, regulations are not enough to ensure that 80 percent of landholdings in the Amazon and 35 percent of savannah territories remain untouched. The government supports legislation that protects the forests on the one hand, but then encourages activities that can only be pursued through deforestation on the other, the environmentalist explained.

Official policy promotes low-production cattle ranching and soya farming through its banks, tax incentives and development agencies. In addition, its investments are concentrated in highways, waterways and other forms of infrastructure that support farming for export, all of which contributes to the destruction of forests, charges Smeraldi.

Beyond passing a good Forestry Code, it is essential to change the development model for the Amazon and the savannahs, and this means discussing alternatives and taking advantage of the parliamentary debate, he added.

The managed extraction of natural latex and wood, tapping into biodiversity, rational farm or livestock production in the 165,000 square km of already deforested and abandoned areas, are just some of the activities the environmentalist advocates, because they keep the forests standing and foster economic development.

Despite appearance, the reality is that there is no unity between environmentalists and the government, nor is there a confrontation with the ruralists, according to senator Marina Silva, a recognised leader of the fight to protect the Amazon environment and its peoples.

It is not just an issue of protecting the forests and maintaining them untouched, it is about changing the development model and promoting the experiences that have already been proven to be economically viable without throwing the environment out of balance, maintained the senator, who is linked to the Amazons seringueiros, who collect natural latex.