Blog for a Better World

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, an arm of the Brazilian government heads the list of the top 100 deforesters of the Brazilian Amazon.  At the very top is the Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, in charged with overseeing land settlement.  Environment Minister Carlos Minc also released new evidence that deforestation rates continue to rise. Earlier this year, it was revealed that several years of progress in slowing deforestation has come to an abrupt halt which sparked an uproar, ultimately leading to the resignation of the previous Environment Minister Marina Silva.  Despite recent setbacks, the government is promising action, starting with a new initiative to halt deforestation by 2015. To help pay for all of this, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is requesting $21 billion from the international community. Earlier this month, Norway stepped up with $1 billion.

The deforestation rate in Brazil has taken on a whole new sense of emergency.  The Brazilian Parliament has just adopted a provision into law providing for an increase in the area of the Amazon that may be granted for rural use with no need to call for bids. The limit, previously set at 500 hectares, has been increased to 1,500 hectares, allowing deforestation of up to 20 percent of the area granted.  This law will allow an increase of soybean plantations and cattle ranches in their need to exploit more land for destruction.  Recently, a report by the National Space Research Institute showed that the Brazilian Amazon lost 1,096 square kilometers of forests during May.   

When we talk about deforestation, must of us think about Brazil, and the Amazon rainforest? But there are other places in the world where the rapid deforestation is causing serious damage to wildlife and possibly the climate as well. Indonesia is a prime example, where the orang-utan, one of the most endangered animals in the world, is quickly losing its habitat to deforestation. We need to remember that the Amazon is not the only rainforest in the world that is being stripped for the sake of progress. But can we truly call it progress when damage our future for the sake of commercial or individual benefit?