National Force to fight deforestation in Amazon Rainforest
Amazon Rainforest
A deal signed today (Mar 11) between the Justice and the Environment ministers and the Social Development Bank (BNDES) establishes the creation of the Company for Environmental Operations, which is to deploy officers from the National Security Force in missions against the illegal deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest.
Altogether, $9.8 million from the BNDES-administered Amazon Fund will be invested to insure the work of the 200 National Force men stationed in strategic spots in the forest. It is the first time resources from the fund are to finance anti-deforestation law-enforcement plans.
Environment Minister Izabela Teixeira (Elza Fiuza/Agência Brasil)
Authorities from the Ministry of the Environment report that the agents will conduct control and law-enforcement operations targeting the illegal felling of trees in the region as part of the third phase of the Plan of Action for the Deforestation Prevention and Control in the Amazônia Legal Region, which is supported by the joint work of 14 ministries. Started in 2004, the plan aims to create and implement public policies to reduce deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest.
As a result of the plan, the second lowest deforestation rate since 1988 was observed in the area last year. According to the latest survey by the Environment Ministry, as many as 4,848km² of the forest have been reported as lost from August 2013 to July 2014—down 18% from the 5,891km² seen in the previous period.
“Over the course of this year, we’ll be able to show the positive outcome of these new strategies against environmental crimes,” said Environment Minister Izabela Teixeira.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the National Security Force has carried out repressive actions against environmental crimes since 2008. Among the illicit activities chiefly targeted are deforestation and the illegal extraction and trade of wood in the Amazon Rainforest. In a six-year period, 1,200 sawmills were inspected, and over 1 million m³ of wood seized, along with 300 chainsaws and 200 tractors.
Among those attending the deal's signature ceremony was Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo, who said that, when President Rousseff ordered the integration of the government against deforestation, the ministries with representatives in the committee regarded the request as a top priority issue, given its gravity. “These resources will now allow us to have a better-equipped National Force, with machinery, vessels, and better-trained members for facing the problem more aggressively,” Cardozo stated.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: National Force to fight deforestation in Amazon Rainforest
