forest code

You'll no doubt be pleased to hear that deforestation rates in the Amazon have fallen, according to figures from the government of Brazil. The National Institute for Space Research reported yesterday that just 6,451km2 of rainforest were felled between August 2009 and July 2010, a drop of 14 per cent on the previous year.

All is not doom and gloom in Brazil. The soya moratorium, which Greenpeace helped establish in 2006, has been renewed for another 12 months, which means another year of soya traders refusing to do business with farmers growing crops on newly deforested land. In addition, companies like McDonalds, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op have reaffirmed their commitment to the moratorium, ensuring that they continue to demand non-Amazon soya at the consumer end too.

There's no denying that the moratorium has been a success. Since it was established four years ago, deforestation rates in the Amazon have decreased while soya yields have increased, showing that (as Paulo Adario from our Brazilian office put it) "production and conservation can go hand in hand".  

With last year's agreement between three of the largest slaughterhouses in Brazil to prevent cattle ranching making further in-roads into the rainforest, we've made great strides in breaking the link between agricultural production and deforestation. But the current attempts to change the forest code could undo much of the success of recent years so there's no rest for the wicked just yet.

While the EU has just voted to ban illegal timber, yesterday Brazil came a step closer to severely weakening the forest code which has helped protect the Amazon rainforest for over 70 years. The Brazilian congress approved the plan to amend the legislation, and if it becomes law then the area of the rainforest which can be legally destroyed will dramatically increase.

Paulo Adario and others from our Brazilian office were present and activists protested against a yes vote. There was also plenty of criticism from other concerned parties - environmentalists, rural organisations and legal representatives, for instance - but still the vote passed.

The amended forest code still has to pass several more hurdles before it reaches the statute books, but with each yes vote it becomes more and more likely it will do so. Eventually, it will have to go to the president who can sign it into law or kick it out. Hopefully it won't get that far, but we'll let you know how you can help if and when the time comes.

In Brazil, moves are afoot to amend a piece of legislation which has been protecting the Amazon rainforest for over 70 years, and not for the better. If the changes are voted through, it could mean that the area of the Amazon which can be legally destroyed will double, and it's the backers of these changes - the agriculture, biofuels and energy barons - who stand to benefit as they argue that pesky forest laws are a hindrance to economic development.