Brazil Defends Dry Northeast from Desert
11/25/99
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Title: Brazil defends dry northeast from desert
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 25, 1999
Byline: Shasta Darlington
Brazil, famed for lush tropical rain forests, put its northeastern
drylands on display this week with hopes of saving the region of 18
million people from the encroaching desert.
Officials from more than 150 countries gathered in Recife, the
capital of the state of Pernambuco, to assess a seven-year U.N.-led
effort to fight global desertification, the degradation of fertile
land to desert.
Brazilian Environment Minister Jose Sarney Filho, a northeastern
native, said in an interview Tuesday he hoped the convention would
raise concern for the drought-stricken region as the 1992 Rio de
Janeiro Earth Summit did for Brazil's endangered rain forest.
``The fact that the conference is being held in the city of Recife,
in semi-arid Brazil, is in itself very important,'' Sarney told
Reuters. ``It calls national attention to a topic not very present
in everyday discussions.''
The delegates wrapped up their formal talks at the conference
Wednesday, with a final communique expected Thursday.
Deforestation, climate change, huge population growth andover-
farming and grazing are largely blamed for turning 57,919 square
miles -- an area larger than Greece -- to dust each year.
In Brazil, drylands cover more than a third of the country. A
prolonged drought has exacerbated the problem in Brazil, causing
economic losses of $300 million and forcing thousands of families
off bone-dry farms.
Last year, a slow government response to the drought led to looting
and a surge in cholera and dengue fever as starving farmers
desperate for water turned to stagnant open wells. Cattle carcasses
baked in the sun and even cactuses wilted.
Even before the latest drought, the average life expectancy in the
northeast was six years shorter than the rest of Brazil. Many
northeasterners fled the tough life but ended up in shantytowns in
Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
``The relation between poverty and desertification has been clearly
made,'' Sarney said. ``It is a problem that requires many
responses, including food aid and jobs.''
For its part, the Environment Ministry launched ``Semi-Arid Pro-
Water,'' a $670 million World Bank project to pipe water into dry
towns. It has also installed more than 600 desalinization machines,
which cost about $10,000 each, to provide potable water to some 6
million people.
Critics, however, say government tends to respond with short-term
solutions, and that even those responses have become less frequent
as an economic slump cut into the government's budget.
Sarney admits more funds are needed at home and from abroad before
land recovery can begin in earnest. ``The process of land
degradation has visibly slowed in Brazil. We're doing our part, but
are a bit disappointed with the little (international) response
we've had.''
Tens of billions of dollars would be needed to begin reversing the
process of land degradation around the world. Brazil alone would
need about $2 billion a year over the next 20 years, Brazilian
officials say.
While 159 countries have signed the U.N. Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) created at the Rio summit, countries
combating their deserts say money is scarce.
Sarney was optimistic, however, that this week's conference would
go a long way to convincing developed nations and even Brazil's own
Congress about the need for funding. ``We've got legislators
discussing resources - that's already a step forward.''