Extractive Reserves Campaign in Honor of Chico Mendes
12/28/98
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Extractive Reserves Campaign
Source: Environmental Defense Fund
Status: distribute freely properly credited to source
Date: 12/28/98
From: Julene Freitas@EDF on 12/28/98 11:10 AM PST
Subject: Extractive Reserves Campaign
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Stephan Schwartzman 202 387-3500
Lisa Swann
202 387-3500
AMAZON PROTECTION CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN MEMORY OF SLAIN LEADER
(21 December, 1998 ? Washington, DC) Ten years after the
assassination of Brazilian rubber tapper Chico Mendes on December 22,
1988, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the National Council
of Rubber Tappers of Brazil (CNS) announced the launch of an
international campaign in defense of the Amazon rainforest and its
people in Mendes' memory.
The announcement came at a press conference held today at the
Smithsonian Institution in which a panel of experts, including EDF
senior scientist Stephan Schwartzman, displayed the latest NASA
satellite images of Amazon destruction and discussed the future of the
rainforest, the political climate in Brazil, and the fact that the
unsustainable lending practices of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) may have become the rainforest's biggest threat.
The international campaign will promote extractive reserves. First
conceived by Mendes, "extractive reserves" are forest reserves held in
trust and managed by the people of forest communities, such as the
rubber tappers, who make a living collecting wild rubber latex in the
forest.
Over twenty reserves have been created in last decade by the Brazilian
government, covering some 9 million acres, but local communities
across the region are calling for many more.
"The crisis of the Amazon, ecologically and socially, has never been
worse," said Schwartzman, "but the political conditions to change the
future of the forest have never been better. Chico Mendes fell ten
years ago, but his vision and leadership are still alive today."
Mendes, an Amazon rubber tapper, was internationally recognized for
leading a grassroots movement in defense of the rubber tappers and the
forest against cattle ranchers, who in the 1970s and 80s cleared the
Brazilian forest and drove out rubber tappers. His assassination by
ranchers in 1988 caused massive international protests and focused the
attention of the world on the destruction of the Amazon.
Now, contrary to all expectations, Mendes' former colleagues and
companions in the struggle have come to power in many parts of the
Amazon. Mendes' former advisor is due to take office on January 1 as
governor of Mendes' home state of Acre. The rubber tappers' success
supports Mendes' view that forest protection is more likely than its
destruction to lead to prosperity.
Just as Mendes' former colleagues are being elected to office in
Brazil, the country faces severe austerity and deep budget cuts in an
agreement with the IMF to protect its currency. Brazilian
environmental protection programs have been cut some 65%, and the
government has, incredibly, cut out grant funds for protection from
the G7 nations.
"Our organizations are discussing with the US Treasury how the IMF
package can be made more consistent with existing commitments by
Brazil, the G7 donors and the World Bank to protect the Amazon," said
Schwartzman.
The Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national, NY-based nonprofit
organization, represents 300,000 members. EDF links science,
economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, and economically
viable solutions to today's environmental problems.
www.edf.org
New Publication can be found at:
http://www.edf.org/programs/International/chico/amazontoday.html