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TEXTO
Brazilian ethanol is not causing deforestation
Ethanol production ∈Brazil is not causing deforestation ∈ the Amazon region, says Peter Zuurbier, Associate Professor and Director of the Latin America Office of Wageningen University, the world’s leading center of expertise on tropical agriculture.
According to him, the notion often held by NGO’s that sugarcane is displacing cattle and soybean production into the Amazon is inaccurate. “The real problem lies ∈ illegal deforestation and lack of property rights, as around 50 percent of the Amazon region has disputed titles and this is an invitation for timber companies,” he says.
Prof. Zuurbier tries to explain a dynamic process between illegal activities ∈ the Amazon rainforest and the expansion of agricultural lands towards that region. NGO’s often state that sugarcane production is displacing cattle and soybean production towards and into the Amazon, burning down the area to make it suitable for agriculture and pastures.
According to Zuurbier, however, the process is slightly different. “Well organized groups and corporations with questionable land titles, but also official land owners began to chop down large acreages of forest to trade timber, both legally and illegally,” he says. “Usually, after the empty strips of land were abandoned, cattle owners would move into these cheap lands. However, after 3 to 4 years of cattle breeding, the thin soil of the Amazon is completely useless without any form of fertilization and livestock owners usually move into the next abandoned area. Soybean farmers meanwhile replace the livestock ∈ these areas, recognizing the opportunity to fertilize the area for soybean production.”
Prof. Zuurbier says the cause of deforestation and agricultural production ∈ or near the Amazon, is simply illegal deforestation itself. According to him, the fact that Brazil still has questionable land titles, no set-aside policy and great difficulty to enforce existing laws to counter illegal timber trade, are the real reasons why the Amazon rainforest is ∈ danger.
(Ethanol Statistics - January 21st 2008, http://www.sucre-ethique.org/Wageningen-expert-Brazilian)
TEXTO
Coasting on Past Glory
The Amazon is still largely intact, but the future hinges on decisions being made now.
From the window of a Boeing, few countries are greener than Brazil. Since much of this vast territory ∈ the heart of South America is still unpeopled and unblemished, it’s not surprising that Brazil looks good against the backdrop of a mistreated planet. It ranks 34th of 149 nations ∈Yale and Columbia’s Environmental Performance Index – greener than Ireland (35th) and the United States (39th). But how long will the country be able to hold on to this favorable score?
To get a better look, you have to go to 9,000 meters, the altitude from which the NASA remote-sensing satellites sweep the earth. Every year, scientists at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) pore over satellite images to produce the most detailed survey of deforestation of any nation ∈ the world. Such candor has won Brazil kudos, but also criticism. Brazil is the fourth biggest contributor of greenhouse gases globally, of which 75 percent comes from the felling and burning of forests. So when data released by INPE∈ late May showed that 5,850 square kilometers of forest (an area larger than Brunei) had disappeared from August 2007 to April 2008 – a 17 percent spike from the year before – the planet took notice. “Brazil has a fantastic endowment from nature but is failing when it comes to managing it,” says Judicael Clevelario Junior, head of environmental studies at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the census bureau.
Brazil’s green laurels are not an illusion. Four fifths of its electric power comes from hydroelectric plants. It is the world leader ∈ biofuels – nearly 30 percent of its cars run on ethanol. The trouble is that these virtues reflect sound decisions made ∈ the 1970s, during the ambitious military government of Gen. Ernesto Geisel. Brazil has not always followed them up.
(…) Fortunately, Brazil has options. Its booming economy is not beholden to coal-fired power plants, and the rain forest is still largely intact. “Brazil has a rare opportunity to transform itself into a rich country and still maintain its natural capital,” says Clevelario Jr. If it can go back to its old habit of making the \right environmental moves.
(Newsweek, July 14th 2008, http://www.newsweek.com/id/143696)
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