south america
Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am
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Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am
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Posted by jamie — 21 May 2008 at 10:27am
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After losing respected environment minister Marina Silva from his cabinet last week, President Lula of Brazil has filled the gaping hole left by her departure. But whether the new minister Carlos Minc has the same commitment to protecting the Amazon as his predecessor, we'll just have to wait and see.
Posted by jamie — 15 April 2008 at 5:20pm
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Following our action in France last
month - when the crew of the Arctic Sunrise blocked a shipment of timber from
the Brazilian Amazon - efforts have been stepped up in the country of origin to
prevent illegal timber being exported in the first place.
The Brazilian government's environmental agency, Ibama, has seized a shipment of timber in the first check on exports by
authorities in two years. The cargo vessel in question - the BSLE Express - would
have been en route to Europe but has been detained in Santarem since March 27. So far, inspectors
have confiscated 732m3 of wood which were travelling with false papers; papers
that were economical with the truth when it came to the species of timber present
in the shipment.
Posted by jamie — 18 March 2008 at 7:12pm
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Boarding the Galina III yesterday © Greenpeace/Karl Joseph
Yesterday afternoon, the crew of one of our
ships - the Arctic Sunrise - swung into action in the French port of Caen.
Their mission: to prevent a shipment of Amazon timber, acquired from companies
linked to illegal logging activities, from entering the EU. And after nearly 24
hours, they're still going strong.
The timber is aboard the Galina III and, as it
tried to enter the port, five Greenpeace volunteers (including a group from the
UK)
climbed aboard where they attached themselves to two of the ship's cranes.
Since then, the Galina has been unable to dock to unload its cargo, a mixture of
timber species with wonderfully exotic names: amarelao, macaranduba, ipe,
garapeira, cumaru and jarana to name a few. And as I write, the team on the
cranes is still holding out.
Posted by jamie — 29 February 2008 at 12:45pm
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An illegal logging camp in the Amazon © Greenpeace/Daniel Beltra
Stung by the recent rise in deforestation
rates in the Amazon, the Brazilian government is cracking down on the illegal
loggers who are ripping up the rainforest; their year-long initiative - known as
Operation Fire Belt - is targeting areas where deforestation has been most
acute.
Posted by jamie — 25 January 2008 at 4:21pm
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Last year, we heard the excellent
news that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon had dropped for the third
consecutive year. However, yesterday came
the rather less welcome news that those rates had changed and have moved in an
upward direction.
Posted by jamie — 18 October 2007 at 11:26am
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A mob led by loggers prevents Greenpeace activists from leaving Brazilian government offices ©Greenpeace/Rodrigo Baleia
There's been further friction in the Amazon between Greenpeace staff and angry loggers and townspeople. It's all ended peacefully but the situation was tense and they were holed up overnight under police protection. This from Reuters:
Police escorted a group of Greenpeace activists from a remote town in the Brazilian Amazon on Wednesday after hundreds of loggers and townspeople besieged them overnight in protest against an anti-global warming campaign, the environmental organization said.
Posted by jamie — 3 October 2007 at 6:29pm
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A burnt area of the Amazon rainforest in Itaituba 2, a protected area (Photo: Daniel Beltra)
Seven years? It's a tall order but we have a cunning plan. Together with eight other national campaigning organisations, our Brazilian team have launched an ambitious proposal with a goal of zero deforestation by 2015.
The plan sets out specific targets that could see deforestation drop gradually over the next seven years, pushing for a cut of 25 per cent in the first year compared to figures for 2005/6. It's thinking on a massive scale, but we believe it can be done - with deforestation rates already falling and with a concerted effort it really could happen.
Posted by jamie — 30 August 2007 at 3:48pm
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As the narrator of this startling video states, "working in the Amazon forest is not for the faint of heart." In the past, people from campaigning organisations have been bullied by land owners and workers, facing intimidation, violence, death threats and even murder.