Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Falling Short in Preserving Atlantic Biome

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 14 2011 (IPS) - Just two of the 51 conservation objectives for Brazil's Mata Atlântica forest have been met, says a study by the Brazilian chapter of Word Wildlife Fund (WWF). This biome of Brazil's Atlantic coast has lost 93 percent of its original forest cover.

The two goals achieved are the government's reduction of fires by 25 percent and the creation of a list of species. Five other goals of the program have not even begun to be implemented, while the rest are in process.

“The sustainable use of biodiversity and the distribution of its benefits have not been very well satisfied. This context will not change as long as the environment is not the center of policy decisions,” Cláudio Maretti, conservation chief for WWF-Brazil, told Tierramérica.

The study released earlier this month evaluated the goals set in 2006, based on guidelines of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.