Yesterday, Brazilian politicians took a decisive step towards opening the door to massive deforestation in the Amazon. They voted in favour of radical changes to the Brazilian forest code, the primary legal instrument for protecting the Amazon. And elsewhere, two forest campaigners were assassinated by gunmen.
If these changes become law, they will let hundreds of forest criminals off the hook and increase the amount of forest under threat from the chainsaws by a vast amount. After yesterday's vote, the bill needs senate approval prior to becoming law, and can then can only be vetoed by President Dilma Roussef.
My colleague Paulo Adario, forest campaigner in Brazil, has this to say about the state of play:
“The Amazon forest has never been threatened as it is now. Yesterday was
a dark day for Brazil. It started with the assassination by gunmen of
José Claudio Silva and Maria do Espírito Santo, forest community leaders in the
Amazon state of Pará. It finished with the news that most of Brazil’s
politicians in the congress approved the assassination of our forest
legislation.
“This debate in parliament is already having a devastating impact to the Amazon
forest and its communities. Government monitoring shows a huge spike in
deforestation over the last few months compared to last year. Farmers are
rushing to cut down forests, expecting that the new law will protect them from
being punished for their past crimes. They’re also gambling that the new rules
will allow them to cut down more forest in the future, and they’re getting
started before the ink is even dry.
"Illegal logging barons are acting
with impunity, as indicated through the assassination of José Claudio Silva and
Maria do Espírito Santo, his wife, shot near their home early yesterday
morning. A community leader who collected and sold Brazil nuts, José lived
with constant death threats and in an area with considerable illegal timber
extraction. Relaxing the forest rules will only increase the risk to such
communities, and to the forest they depend on for their livelihoods.”
It goes without saying that José and Maria's killers must be brought to justice and forest communities
protected from such acts of impunity. At the same time, President Dilma has to stop the
chainsaws by keeping the current forest laws intact, and getting tough with
those who are clearing the rainforest right now. We'll continue working to make sure the Amazon rainforest is protected.
