Monday, November 23, 2009

Brazilians Take Steps Toward Reforestation


Deforestation has fallen by half in Brazil since 2006, even with the threat of sanctions against ranchers and the better enforcement of environmental regulations curbing the destruction of the world's biggest rain forest. Still, a large chunk of forest the size of Connecticut was destroyed last year.

With such a frightening statistic, many Brazilian farmers are taking initiative in replanting soybeans on the recently vacant earth. One farmer, Luiz Alberto Bortolini, began this process nearly twenty years ago, and now has hundreds of farmers following in his footsteps. Their collective goal is to set aside one-third of their farms for native vegetation, which is revolutionary in a region long resistant to environmental controls.

According to Bortolini, "This is in the farmers' interests because the farmer is the one most dependent on the environment."

Some government officials believe this is the strong start needed to recreate their precious natural resource: the rain forest.

The Washington Post reports:

The initiative, driven by the market and by new pressure from regulators, comes as the government considers proposals to dramatically reduce the rainforest destruction that has made Brazil a leading producer of greenhouse gases. Earlier this month, Brazil said it would cut emissions by up to 38.9 percent from projected 2020 levels, a pledge designed to encourage other countries to take major steps at next month's global warming summit in Copenhagen.

"I think what they are moving towards is essentially a no-deforestation position by 2030," said David Cleary, who oversees conservation strategies in Latin America for the Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. "It's way, way beyond any commitment that Brazil has made in deforestation before."


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