Brazil in Focus

A new social pact for the environment rewrites the Forest Code 

by Kátia Abreu
After years of discussion involving all sectors of society and stakeholders, and intense coverage by the media, the Brazilian Parliament is getting ready to cast a conclusive vote on reform of our Forest Code. A close and unbiased reading of the bill will show that it contains the strictest and most rigorous rules for land use of any country in the world. Unfortunately, the Brazilian subsidiaries of international environmental groups - not always known for their balance and impartiality - have interpreted the new Code as a plot to boost rural productity at the expense of environmental conservation.

Brazil sacrifices the enviroment on the altar of growth

A year ago presidential hopeful Dilma Rousseff went on record as a strong defender of the environment. On the campaign trail, she said she opposed the pardoning of scofflaws for past crimes against the environment. At the same time she spoke forcefully about the need to conciliate preservation with the imperative of feeding a hungry nation. But what has been the Rousseff government's track record? Sergio Abranches weighs in.

by Sergio Abranches
The Brazilian government facilitates economic activity with scant regard for the environment. Brasília's decisions on energy and on managing conservation areas, plus its negligence in discussions of the Forest Code, demonstrate that public policy flouts global concerns over climate change and irremediable environmental damage.

Brazil's forestry laws are about to be razed. The Lower House of Congress voted in late May, and caused a political conflagration by proposing to pardon past acts of illegal deforestation and to allow farmers to plant and graze on "protected" lands. Big Agriculture cheered, hailing the reform as a step to "decriminalizing" agribusiness, which kicks in over a third of Brazilian gdp. Green groups argue that the current version of the bill would be a blank check for destruction. Now the Senate will have its say and whatever the outcome, expectations have ratcheted even higher. Brazil in Focus welcomes the debate, which begins in this issue with an essay by environmental writer Sergio Abranches.

Will new environmental laws bring more destruction?

by Sergio Abranches
Whatever the ultimate fate of Brazil's forestry laws, the first results are now clear: deforestation is going to increase. It had already jumped as Congress first took up a sweeping reform bill earlier this year, and got worse when the Lower House signed off on the bill in May. That's because the new code is a provisional license to raze the forest. Full approval will follow if the Senate signs off on the current version of the bill and the Executive goes on to sign it into law.

BIF's Ricardo Azoury takes on the great Amazon drought of 2010.

Brazil is finally tackling land tenure in the Amazon

by Alberto Lourenço

A silent revolution is underway in the Brazilian Amazon. The struggle for land on a lawless frontier marked by countless tales of violence has given way to an orderly and legalized system of land ownership.