More on the Rain Forest Region in the State of Para

Rain Forest Region of Para

There is so much to learn about the Rain Forest the life it supports, the communities that live here and how deforestation is impacting the world. This week has been spend with different folks from; Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, USA, Slovakia, Spain, Mexico and Kenya. There are many of the same struggles happening in these other countries happening in other parts of the world. The struggle to uphold the rights of people and the land, water, food etc. are a collective concern here.

The folks from Paraguay spoke to their work with the indigeonous, defending their right to the land and for campasinos to be able to subsistence farm. They are also working to reforestation projects, to help those who have been displaced and there is much concern about agro-business, especailly soy production.

We also were lucky to have a voice from Africa, Kenya to be exact. Br. Lawerance´s spoke to their struggle with HIV/AIDS. In Kenya, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is pretty well under control. They have been able to get the adaquate education and medicines for the country. They now struggle with refugees and orphans because of the pandemic. Br. Lawerence all week has been insistant that I come visit him in fall, we shall see. There also is work of reforestation going on in Kenya, many of you may have heard of Wangari Matthai. She was a Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work in the reforestation in Kenya, especially with women. You can learn more about her work at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2004/

I have been aware of the deforestation of the rainforest for some time. Actually back in middle school I was campaigning the student government to adopt some rainforest. To come full circle and to come to this land and meet the people has been amazing. I will post some picture of our visit the other day with an indigenous community living on protected land. For now I will close with some information on from on the impact of soy in this region. There is also a video clip that can be found on their website http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/landmark-amazon-soya-moratoriu

The Amazon campaign
Rising international demand for soya had led many farmers to drive deforestation to make way for soya cultivation. Back in 2006, we published ‘Eating up the Amazon’, a report on our investigation into the links between soya in the supply chains of leading international food companies and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. At the same time, we dressed up as chickens and heckled McDonald's, one of the companies using soya from the Amazon for Chicken McNuggets back then. The costumes were sweaty but lucky for us (and the planet), McDonalds quickly reacted and agreed to join us and lead a call for a change.

Responding to this pressure, the major soya traders operating in Brazil announced a two year moratorium which came into effect in July 2006, stopping for the time being the trade in soya grown on newly deforested land. Although recent figures show an increase in Amazon deforestation rates, after three years of decline, the first field evaluation show that the soya harvested this year in the Brazilian Amazon has not come from newly deforested areas. In other words, the moratorium is doing its job and halting soya related forest destruction, despite the pressure from rising soya prices.

Companies doing the right thing
But two years have not been long enough to establish permanent solutions to halt deforestation related to soya farming and without an extension much of the hard work done to date would have been lost. Credit for the extension goes primarily to two of our, umm, favourite allies - big business and government.

The Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries (Abiove), which represents soya traders, has recently been under huge pressure from producers who wanted to weaken the moratorium by allowing soya plantations in areas not permitted under the existing agreement. Despite the pressure, in a press conference held in Brasilia, Abiove has just confirmed that it will back the moratorium for another year. “Abiove’s decision shows that it is possible for a leading agri-business company to ensure food production without destroying forests", said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon campaign coordinator.

Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc told reporters: “The moratorium is a successful initiative by civil society and the soya industry. The Federal Government is entering the process now and is committed to register and license all rural properties in the Amazon biome. Inspired by the success of this initiative, the Brazilian government is negotiating similar approaches with the timber and beef industries.”“We are delighted to see the new environment minister take an active role in ensuring the continuation of the moratorium. Such high level support helps Abiove and the traders convince farmers to support the initiative. His support also serves as a warning to those who continue to destroy forests that their soya will be rejected by the market,” concluded Adario.

Not only has Minc come out in support of the extension, he has committed the government to speeding up efforts for the registration and mapping of rural properties in the Amazon. This is essential if we are to ensure compliance by all parties to the laws dictating which land may be used for farming and which is off limits for deforestation.

Much more still to be done
This announcement means we’re one step closer to achieving that. Further measures include curbing illegal occupation of public lands, harsh penalties for illegal deforestation, driving development to areas away from the rainforest and increasing support for sustainable methods of production.

Rainforests and climate change
Not only is the forest a natural wonder but it is home to millions of indigenous peoples. In addition, recent science has proven that tropical forest destruction is responsible for nearly one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, second only to the energy sector. Stopping deforestation of the Amazon would bring us much closer to keeping global temperature rise at below 2°C, which most scientists believe is necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change. From Greenpeace.org)

Hope to get another posting out tonight or tomorrow before I head out for my two day journey the boat to Belem for the World Social Forum.