Brazilian Minister Gets UN Award for Reducing Deforestation by 50%

The Brazilian minister for the Environment, Marina Silva, is among the seven winners of this year's edition of the Champions of the Earth award, granted by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The announcement was made on the eve of the ministerial meeting of the UNEP, to take place in Nairobi, Kenya, next week.

According to a press release published by the organization, this is the third edition of the award and the objective is to contemplate people who have been prominent in the environmental area. The awarding ceremony will take place in Singapore, on April 19, during the Summit of Global Business for the Environment.

According to the press release, Marina Silva was chosen as she is a "tireless fighter for the protection of the Amazon Rainforest" and "her work has championed conservation while taking into account the perspectives of people who use the resources in their daily lives."

According to the UN, she is a "champion of the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which promotes conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of the benefits of biodiversity."

The organization points out that, as a senator, she was successful in legislating rainforest preservation, defending her people against poverty and protecting their way of life.

Marina was born in a village in the northern Brazilian state of Acre, and has worked in rubber farming and on the land to help her family, according to information on her personal site.

She learnt to read and write late in life, as an adolescent, and went on to history college, to become a teacher and union leader alongside Chico Mendes, and a political activist. She was elected to senate in 1994 and re-elected in 2002.

Marina is currently among the most respected members of president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's cabinet. As a minister, a position she has held since 2003, the UN points out her remarkable contribution for the preservation of the complex and rich biological diversity of the Brazilian Amazon.

The organization estimates that deforestation has reduced 50% in the last two years, "a result undoubtedly linked to a new government process implemented by her and fundamentally based on the idea of a cross-cutting approach to environmental issues in all governmental and non-governmental sectors."

The remaining winners are the minister of City Planning and Environment of Algeria, Cherif Rahmani, prince Hassan Bin Talal, of Jordan, Elisea "Bebet" Gillera Gozun, from the Philippines, Viveka Bohn, from Sweden, the former vice president of the United States, Al Gore, and the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, as well as the IOC itself.

Anba – www.anba.com.br

Tags:

You May Also Like

Fall of Brazil’s Chief of Staff Is Black Day for Lula

{mosimage}The South African President, Thabo Mbeki, sacked his deputy Jacob Zuma on 14 June ...

Chavez Helps Drawing Grandiose Plans for Brazil and South America

The presidents of Brazil, Argentina and oil-rich Venezuela decided together on Thursday, January 19, ...

Brazil Lends a Technical Hand to Guinea-Bissau’s Presidential Elections

A technical team from the Brazilian Federal Electoral Court (TSE, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral) collaborated ...

Brazil and Jordan Exchange Pleasantaries and Vow Cooperation

One of the themes discussed at a recent meeting between the minister of Foreign ...

Projection for Brazil’s Growth Shrinks Now to a Paltry 0.33%

According to estimates from financial institutions polled weekly by the Brazilian Central Bank (BC), ...

Of Butts and Butts: Derrières and Smoking with a Brazilian Accent

I’ve been noticing something ever since the advent of the Internet. The fact I ...

International Lawyer in Brazil to Denounce Chavez’ Human Rights Abuses

Venezuelan political prisoner Eligio Cedeno's representatives are visiting Brazil this week seeking what they ...

Portuguese, Anyone?

New York language schools are surprised by the interest that Wall Street businessmen have ...

Arabian horses in Brazil

Brazil Puts On a Show on Arabian Horses

The city of Sorocaba, in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in ...

S&P Downgrades Brazil

Brazilian and Latin American equities climbed, alongside gains in U.S. stocks on increased merger ...