New Brazilian Law Opens the Amazon for Sustainable Development

The idea is to combat the deforestation of the Amazon while taking advantage of the region’s economic potential. With that objective, the Chamber of Deputies has passed a law that will permit the private sector to obtain land concessions in public forests in the Amazon region for sustainable projects.

The concessions, which can be for as much as 40 years, will be obtained through competitive bidding processes limited to Brazilian companies.


They will be judged by taking into consideration price, environmental impact and socio-economic benefits. Bidders will not receive ownership of the land, only its use, as the government will retain ownership.


“This is really not a concession project, it is a public forest management project. Land will be made available only after it is determined that it will not be turned into a conservation area or used by local inhabitants. Reserves and local use are our priorities. Concessions come in third place,” explains João Paulo Capobianco, secretary of Biodiversity at the Ministry of Environment.


Under the terms of the new law, the forest can be used in various ways. There can be extraction, for example, lumbering. Or, there can be non-extractive activities, such as ecotourism. According to Capobianco, some 45% of the Amazon forest is government property (the rest is either conservation areas or Indian reservations).


The law has clauses which provide special protection for small enterprises on areas of up to 2,500 hectares.


ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Life Is Adventure

Postcards from Rio de Janeiro Then there is a third "click", much closer to ...

An Accord to Simplify Beef Exports from Brazil

The signature of a sanitation agreement between Brazil and Egypt may help improve beef ...

Petrobras Opens “New Frontier” With Light Oil Discovery in Brazil

Brazilian government-controlled oil giant Petrobras confirmed this week the existence of light crude and ...

Despite US Push, Brazil Says No to UN Mission in Lebanon

Brazil has decided not to send troops for the United Nations peace mission in ...

No More Tapes, No More "Off"

Brazilian politicians have forever used and abused confidential information without the source being credited. ...

Brazil Reaches Oil Self-Sufficiency by Year’s End

Brazilian petroleum output should be enough by the end of 2005 to meet the ...

For Greenpeace, Brazil Is Serious About Ending Illegal Logging in the Amazon

The Brazilian Federal Police carried out a full-size operation in Mato Grosso which resulted ...

Brazil’s Lula Tells His Presidential Candidate Rousseff to Act as Mother of the Poor

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva compared candidate Dilma Rousseff to a mother ...

Carnaval: Brazil Intensifies Sex Slavery Campaign

Brazil’s campaign against human trafficking will be intensified at the international airport of Recife, ...

In Brazil, Arab League Chief Urges Israel to Leave Occupied Territories

The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amre Moussa, declared that one of the aims ...