In the heart of the Amazon rainforest a huge soya processing factory and port owned by the giant US company Cargill has just been closed down by the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA).
We've been saying for some time that the port facilities, built by Cargill in Santarém, were a problem. Last April our report, Eating Up the Amazon, explained the role it has been playing in pushing the soya cultivation that is a key driver of deforestation. The following month, with the Arctic Sunrise in town, it was the focus for a week of demonstrations and direct action that saw clashes between activists, soya farmers and port workers.
But the legal battle to get an Environmental Impact Assessment done has been going on even longer. Since 2000, the Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution (MPF) has been struggling through the courts to have a thorough EIA carried out. However, instead of complying with the Brazilian environmental law, Cargill have been exploiting the shortcomings of the complex Brazilian legal system.
As a result, both IBAMA and local groups who have concerns about the plant have been frustrated by a long judicial battle through which Cargill bought time to construct and operate the terminal without assessing its potentially enormous environmental impact.
It's an extremely welcome development, but everything depends on the scope of the assessment and according to Paulo Adario, our Amazon campaign co-ordinator, further obstacles may be put in the Agency's way.
"We trust that Cargill will respect the judiciary and conduct a broad environmental impact assessment, which will result in concrete measures to minimize the impacts by its port and soya expansion in the region. In that way, the company will also confirm its commitment to the moratorium on further deforestation for soya planting, announced by the soya sector in Brazil last year."
