Amazon Rainforest Deforestation At Lowest In 23 Years, Brazil Government Says

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years in the year through July, the government said Monday, attributing the drop to its tougher stance against illegal logging.

Destruction of the Brazilian portion of the world's largest rain forest dropped 11 percent to 6,238 square km (2,400 square miles) over the 12-month period, satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research showed.

That is less than a quarter of the forest area that was destroyed in 2004, when clear-cutting by farmers expanding their cattle and soy operations reached a recent peak.

Brazil has stepped up its monitoring and enforcement policies in the Amazon in recent years but the improvement has partly been driven by slower global economic growth that has reduced demand and prices for the country's farm produce.

Overall improvement in 2010/11 masked worrying rises in some Amazon states such as Rondonia, where deforestation doubled from the previous year. Forest clearing in the farming state of Mato Grosso rose 20 percent.

"Some states are still extremely sensitive," Environment Minister Isabel Teixeira told reporters. "Rondonia needs to be clarified, we need to understand what has caused the change in its profile."

Two large hydroelectric dams are being built in Rondonia, boosting the local economy and attracting migrant workers.

The drop in deforestation comes as Brazil's Congress debates an overhaul of the land law that environmentalists say would severely set back conservation efforts. The Senate is expected to approve the new forest code in the coming days.

Brazil's influential farming lobby says the reform, which would ease conservation requirements for land owners, is needed to end widespread uncertainty over the current regulations that farmers say is a burden on production.

(Reporting by Hugo Bachega; writing by Stuart Grudgings; editing by John O'Callaghan)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[andyou]

04:12 AM on 12/08/2011

"Amazon Rainforest Loss At Lowest In 23 Years, Brazil Say"
**********

Probably because there's so little to lose.

[Pedro A L Costa]

03:26 PM on 12/07/2011

The Brazilian Senate yesterday approved the proposed Forest Code revisions, which will change agricultural legislation and allow Brazil to continue as a leader in environmental preservation while maintaining high levels of agricultural exports. “It is undoubtedly the most restrictive and rigorous land-ownership legislation in the world,” said senator Kátia Abreu, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA). “For example, the new code mandates that all rural Amazonian institutions must preserve 80% of their property as untouched land reserves.”

The CNA, which represents over five million Brazilian farmers, estimates that if the Forest Code revisions did not become law, Brazil could lose up to 20% of the land currently used for farming and livestock. “This could result in more expensive food, a rise in inflation and fewer jobs for Brazilians, as well as a decrease in exports and a significant drop in Brazil’s GDP.”

The CNA recognizes that the final text is not ideal, but it is the best outcome possible after a comprehensive democratic debate. “It is a step forward, especially given Brazil’s need to regulate food production and avoid deforestation,” said Senator Abreu.

[trailerguy]

10:39 AM on 12/07/2011

The soil in the rainforest will bleach out or be used up quickly. Much of the agriculture was slash and burn because all the nutreints were in the the trees and plants and when burn the nutrients would go into soll. But this would quiockly disappear and the farmers wuold let forest go fallow again. I wonder have the soybena and cattle farms wil fair longterm.

[milty]

11:47 PM on 12/06/2011

This is where the time and money needs to be spent; on reducing the deforestation of rain forests around the world. This is man's biggest impact on the climate, not CO2.

[Jorgelzorro]

10:40 PM on 12/06/2011

What's wrong with brazil?that country has a beaitful gift from earth and it's destroying it,stupid!

[Jorgelzorro]

10:38 PM on 12/06/2011

Maybe because there's no more forest left?

[artleads]

08:37 PM on 12/06/2011

Industrial, global capitalism: Cut down half the Amazon and export the wood for the industrial, corporate mass erecting of building (many of them on spec and not needed), then cut down the other half to plant soy to put in all our industrially produced foods. There was a time when people built houses with local or nearby wood, and did likewise with food. But many will tell you, no problem. The current situation is part of civilized living and living longer and conveniently. Do we want to go back to the stone age? Too bad I can't believe it.