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Despite the alarms about global warming, the news concerning Brazil's crucial Amazon jungle is not good. Once again, satellites are showing deforestation is on the rise. And once again the government has announced a package of measures aimed at halting it. If you think you've heard this story before, you're not wrong. It's depressingly familiar. "This is only a surprise if you believe in Father Christmas," said Roberto Smeraldi, director of Friends of the Earth's Brazil office...
Lula, elected with the support of green groups who later accused him of kowtowing to Brazil's powerful agribusiness lobby, called for a complete ban on deforestation in the 36 worst-hit municipalities and said he would next month send 800 federal police officers to ensure the moratorium is respected. He also told landowners they would have to register their properties and prove they comply with existing environmental legislation, something very few currently do. Those not in compliance will be ineligible for government credit or prohibited from selling their property. Measures will also be introduced to stop non-compliant businesses...
Environmental groups also believe the government's commitment is questionable because it needs the income from Brazil's booming agriculture sector. Brazil is the world's biggest beef and soy exporter and it leads the global race to turn sugar cane into fuel. When commodities like soy, beef and grains are sought after on world markets, farmers have more incentive to hack away and create fields. Environment Minister Marina Silva said the recent rise in deforestation is due in large part to increased commodity prices. Deforestation fell along with food prices in 2005 and 2006 and now both...
Smeraldi put the rise down to a controversial government decision to license two hydro-electric dams on the Madeira river, the longest tributary of the Amazon. The dams could provide as much as 8% of Brazil's energy needs but they have been compared to China's Three Gorges project because of the potential ecological damage. Lula dismissed claims by his own environmental agency that the dams could cause serious harm to the environment and ordered a shakeup that resulted in the ousting of officials who opposed the project. The tender process went ahead last year, prompting a land grab...
...clear whether Russia will become a full-fledged democracy, but it is already much freer than countries like China. It is not by chance that svoboda - freedom - is a much celebrated word in Russia today. Pedro Paulo A. Funari, Head, Center for Strategic Studies, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil...