Brazil plans to cut deforestation by 70 pct over 10 years

Yana Marull Yana Yahoo News 2 Dec 08;

BRASILIA (AFP) – The Brazilian government on Monday unveiled a plan to cut the deforestation of the Amazon by 70 percent over the next decade.

It is the first time Brazil, home to the largest area of tropical woodland on the planet, has set a target for reducing the damage wrought by illegal loggers and ranchers.

Environment Minister Carlos Minc unveiled the initiative in the presence of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and said it would be formally presented at a UN climate change conference underway this week in Poland.

"Just in terms of avoided deforestation in the Amazon, the plan foresees a reduction of 4.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide that won't be emitted up to 2018 -- which is more than the reduction efforts fixed by all the rich countries," Minc said.

The minister said Brazil hopes to use the plan to "increase the number of contributors to the Amazon Fund" launched last August which aims to collect money from around the world to fight deforestation.

The head of Brazil's forestry service, Tasso Azevedo, told AFP that an announcement by Britain that it planned to cut CO2 emissions by 80 percent over the next four decades, and Brazil's plan, "push the ambitions of the Poznan conference (in Poland) to another level."

Brazil's initiative "shows that developing countries can take on aggressive commitments and that developed ones can go much further," he said.

The benchmark against Brazil's plan will be measured is the rate of deforestation recorded between 1996 and 2005, during which an annual average of 19,500 square kilometers (7,500 square miles) of woodland was razed.

The calculation is progressive and worked out on a four-yearly basis, making the real-term goal a deforestation a little under half the current rate, or approximately 12,000 square kilometers per year.

Although the plan is concentrated on the Amazon, it will also apply to other large biomass areas in the country.

Environmental groups welcomed the news, although a few said they would like to have seen the goal be more ambitious.

"Better late than never," was how the director of one organization, Friends of the Earth, Roberto Smeraldi, summed it up.

"It's a modest proposal, which won't give Brazil a leadership role, and I hope they say so in Poznan," added an expert, Sergio Abranches, to CBN radio.

Jose Marengo, a scientist at the Spacial Research Institute which measures Amazon deforestation by satellite, said the move was a step forward "because at least we're talking about targets -- before the government had the position that Brazil wasn't to blame (for greenhouse gas emissions), that they came more from the US and industrialized countries."

He also said that, if deforestation in Brazil continues at the current rate, "from 2040 the Amazon vegetation could collapse in what the English model calls 'savannization', and no longer manage to absorb CO2 but rather become a source of it."

Although Brazil had up to now rejected the notion of targets, it had been making efforts against deforestation that permitted a 59 percent reduction after registering a historic peak of 27,000 square kilometers of stripped forest in 2004.

The announced plan, as well as setting a deforestation goal, covers improved energy efficiency, encouraging alternative energy sources and increasing by 20 percent trash recycling in urban areas by 2015.

"We will surely receive criticism, but we can say that we are presenting a better one (plan) than China or India, and better than others that still haven't signed the Kyoto Protocol," Lula said.

70% deforestation cuts for Brazil
BBC News 1 Dec 08;

Brazil has announced a plan to reduce deforestation rates in the Amazon region by 70% over the next ten years.

The plan follows a call for international funding to prevent further loss of the Amazon rainforest.

This year, the rate of Amazon deforestation increased after falling for the past four years.

The announcement comes as the UN's latest round of climate talks begin.

Tasso Azevedo, head of the Brazilian government's forestry service said "We can now adopt targets because we now have the instruments to implement them."

He was referring to a new Amazon fund, where foreign nations are being encouraged by Brazil to contribute financially to the conservation of the vast Amazon region.

Last month, Norway announced its intention to support the fund, saying it will give $130m (euros 103m; £88m) next year, the first instalment of a $1bn, (euros 700m; £670m) to be given over the next seven years, however Norway will only make each year's donation on the condition that there has been a reduction in deforestation during the previous year.

The 70% figure comes from averaging levels of deforestation in the 10 years up to 2005, the plan aims to see a reduction in deforestation of nearly 6,000 sq km per year or about half the current annual rate of deforestation.

A crackdown on illegal settlements and increased policing in the Amazon region came earlier this year, following an estimated 3.8% increase in deforestation compared with the previous year.

Burning of the forests has contributed to increases in global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, but Brazil's environment minister Carlos Minc said the initiative showed the country is committed to reducing global emissions.

"Just in terms of avoided deforestation in the Amazon, the plan foresees a reduction of 4.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide that won't be emitted up to 2018 - which is more than the reduction efforts fixed by all the rich countries," he said.

Brazil Says To Cut Amazon Destruction By 70 Percent
PlanetArk 2 Dec 08;

BRASILIA - Brazil announced on Monday a plan to cut destruction of its Amazon rain forest by more than half over the next 10 years, the first time it has set a deforestation target as it seeks to fight global warming.

A government official told Reuters Brazil will aim to reduce deforestation of the world's largest forest by 70 percent by 2018. The target will be based on the average deforestation over the 10 years through 2005 of 19,500 sq km (7,530 sq miles).

That amounts to a yearly target of 5,850 sq km (2,260 sq miles), about half the most recent annual deforestation figure. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was scheduled to announce the plan officially later on Monday.

"We can now adopt targets because we now have the instruments to implement them," said Tasso Azevedo, head of the government's Forestry Service, referring to a new Amazon Fund which is attracting foreign donations to improve conservation.

Last week the government said Amazon deforestation increased 3.8 percent from a year earlier to nearly 4,633 square miles (12,000 sq km) -- roughly equal to the US state of Connecticut -- as high commodity prices drew farmers and ranchers to slash more trees.

It was the first rise in four years, although well down from a peak of 10,570 square miles (27,379 sq km) in 2004.

The announcement of the new plan coincided with the opening of a United Nations climate conference in Poznan, Poland.

Burning of the Amazon makes Brazil one of the world's top emitters of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Every time a tree dies, its carbon is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Brazil has previously refused to adopt targets until rich countries, which cause most carbon emissions, offered more help to protect tropical forests in developing countries.

Norway gave Brazil an unprecedented vote of confidence this year by pledging $1 billion to the new fund over seven years.

Brazil's government this year increased policing, impounded farm products from illegally cleared land and cut financing for unregistered properties, stepping up its efforts after figures showed a spike in deforestation late last year.

Commodity prices have plunged in recent weeks, but were near record highs for most of the year, increasing farmers' incentives to clear forest.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt; writing by Stuart Grudgings, editing by Alan Elsner)