BRAZIL: Senate votes to pass a controversial law which reduces the amount of forest farmers must conserve for the environment
Record ID:
327650
BRAZIL: Senate votes to pass a controversial law which reduces the amount of forest farmers must conserve for the environment
- Title: BRAZIL: Senate votes to pass a controversial law which reduces the amount of forest farmers must conserve for the environment
- Date: 8th December 2011
- Summary: BRASILIA, BRAZIL (DECEMBER 6, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE EXTERIOR OF BRAZIL'S SENATE BRAZILIAN FLAG VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS DRESSED AS CLOWNS SENATE PRESIDENT JOSE SARNEY SIGN DISPLAYING RESULTS OF SENATE VOTE SENATOR KATIA ABREU (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) KATIA ABREU, SENATOR, SAYING: "I am sure that many Congress people are not satisfied with the result. Nobody is 100 percent satisfied. Some of us in the Senate are not. Some senators would have liked to do a little more, but it was not possible. This isn't a place of absolute certainty, or absolute truth. This is a political place where the majority of votes wins." SENATOR IZABELLA TEIXEIRA (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) IZABELLA TEIXEIRA, SENATOR, SAYING: "The objective of this new code is to put Brazil in an advantageous position, not just to reduce deforestation of carbon emissions. That's why we have a new challenge. To create a new path for environmental politics in Brazil. A new path of dialogue between the social movements and family and small agriculture. I think we've made progress." POLICE CARS OUTSIDE THE SENATE EXTERIOR OF SENATE PROTESTERS OUTSIDE SENATE AMAZON REGION, BRAZIL (RECENT) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF FOREST AERIAL VIEW OF FOREST BURNING VARIOUS OF DEFORESTATION SITES GENERAL VIEW OF GREENPEACE MEMBERS INSIDE A PLANE MONITORING DEFORESTATION SITES THROUGH A COMPUTER AERIAL VIEW OF DEFORESTATION SITE VARIOUS OF FOREST BEING DESTROYED BY FIRE AERIAL VIEW OF FOREST DESTROYED BY FIRE VARIOUS OF DEFORESTATION SITES
- Embargoed: 23rd December 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil, Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Environment,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAA9A0QXQBA4H82762L8UNKN4CP
- Story Text: Brazil's Senate on Tuesday (December 6) passed a law to ease land-use rules which environmentalists say could spur illegal tree-felling and put the Latin American country's emission targets at risk.
The new law, an overhaul of Brazil's 1965 forest code , will reduce the amount of forest that farmers must preserve, relax the conservation of hilltops, and give partial amnesties for massive fines for past deforestation in Latin America's largest country.
The bill had already been passed by the lower house of Congress, and was on Tuesday approved by the Senate and still needs to be approved by President Dilma Rousseff.
Forest destruction, which is largely caused by land-clearing for cattle and other farming, is a major source of carbon emissions that contribute to global warming.
Environmentalists say the bill gives too much weight to the economic interests of the influential farm lobby and will set back recent progress in reducing destruction of the world's largest forest. Greenpeace warned that a forest area equivalent to the size of Sweden could be lost as a result of the law.
Senator Katia Abreu, an opponent of the law, said that many senators are not satisfied with the result of the vote, but that they deferred to the political process.
"I am sure that many Congress people are not satisfied with the result. Nobody is 100 percent satisfied. Some of us in the Senate are not. Some senators would have liked to do a little more, but it was not possible. This isn't a place of absolute certainty, or absolute truth. This is a political place where the majority of votes wins."
Brazil's farmers say more flexibility on environmental regulations will help them compete on more level footing against other big farming nations such as the United States and Argentina. Brazil is among the world's largest exporters of soy, beef, coffee and other key agricultural commodities.
Senator Izabella Teixeira said that the vote was a positive step towards improved dialogue between environmentalists and farmers.
"The objective of this new code is to put Brazil in an advantageous position, not just to reduce deforestation of carbon emissions. That's why we have a new challenge. To create a new path for environmental politics in Brazil. A new path of dialogue between the social movements and family and small agriculture. I think we've made progress," she said.
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years in the year through July, the government said on Monday, attributing the drop to its tougher stance against illegal logging.
Destruction of the Brazilian portion of the world's largest rain forest dropped 11 percent to 6,238 square km (2,400 square miles) over the 12-month period, satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research showed.
That is less than a quarter of the forest area that was destroyed in 2004, when clear-cutting by farmers expanding their cattle and soy operations reached a recent peak.
Brazil has stepped up its monitoring and enforcement policies in the Amazon in recent years but the improvement has partly been driven by slower global economic growth that has reduced demand and prices for the country's farm produce. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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