Brazil’s Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, affirmed, yesterday, June 29, that a sustainable development program in the Amazon could utilize areas that have already been deforested and abandoned as a way to reduce pressure on the forest.
Silva appeared before a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies to present a plan of actions to combat deforestation in the Amazon.
“We are looking for a consistent path in which you combine the dynamics of combating deforestation with the productive process, including a sustainable development program for the Amazon that will make use of the approximately 160 thousand square kilometers of territory that has been deforested and abandoned,” the Minister explained to the Chamber’s Commission on the Amazon, National Integration, and Regional Development and the Commission on Environment and Sustainable Development.
According to Silva, it is the task of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply to formulate a project for the sustainable use of the Amazon.
The Minister says that the plan for the Amazon embraces 142 activities that will be coordinated by the Presidential Civilian Advisory Staff and executed by 13 Ministries.
According to her, through 2007 the government expects to spend US$ 164 million (390 million reais) to combat deforestation. The Minister also said that 27 police divisions to combat environmental crimes have been created since 2003.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
