Greenpeace is getting municipal governments to sign agreements for the implantation of the Cities Friends of the Amazon project, which is intended to diminish illegal deforestation by focusing on buyers, the final link in the supply chain.
According to the coordinator of the project, Adriana Imparato, Greenpeace estimates indicate that a third of all the timber consumed in Brazil is consumed by the State machine.
"The chief objective of the program is to get municipal governments to adopt a model of sustainable timber purchases, because at present a large portion of the municipal governments in our country consumes illegal timber that is the fruit of deforestation," Imparato said.
According to Imparato, this occurs because the only document required for timber purchases is the sales receipt, which does not state the origin of the timber. Therefore, regardless of how effective the inspection may be, there is no way to prove that the timber comes from an illegally deforested area without a document registering its origin.
Imparato explained that the idea is for each one of the municipal administrations to pass a law regulating direct or indirect purchases of sustainable timber, from forest management plans authorized by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).
"Indirect purchases, because, in the case of public works, which are responsible for the lion’s share of timber bought by city governments, it is the hired contractor that buys the wood," she observed.
Agência Brasil