Greenpeace Proposes Amazonas Adopts 'Green Seal'The environmental organisation Greenpeace proposed yesterday that the Government of Amazonas take action to stimulate the adoption of the so-called 'green seal' - the certification of timber products by the Forest Stewardship Council, as a guarantee that the product has been extracted by sustainable means. The proposal took place on the Greenpeace-owned vessel 'Amazon Guardian,' when the executive director of Greenpeace in Brazil, Roberto Kishinami, met with the coordinator of the Amazon Campaign, Paulo Adário, the Secretary of Education for Amazonas, Vicente Nogueira, and the President of IPAAM (the Institute for the Environmental Protection of Amazonas), Estevão de Paula Queiroz. Certification of industries is one of the major goals of Greenpeace's Amazon Campaign, which will be acting in Amazonas and Pará over the next few months. Certification has the advantage that foreign consumers these days are demanding much more in the way of environmentally sound products.
According to Queiroz, the government does not have the right to legally enforce the adoption of the certification system by timber producers - it is instead a voluntary option on the part of the companies themselves. The government only has the ability to encourage and stimulate the adoption of certification, and it is this that Greenpeace wants. So far, of the eight major timber companies operating in the state of Amazonas, only one of them (MIL Madeireiras) is completely certified, with one other (Gethal S/A) currently in the process of certifying certain sections of its production line.
Greenpeace's boat, the Amazon Guardian, is one of its primary tools for carrying out its operations in Amazonia. It has the capacity for a crew of 31, and is equipped with hi-tech satellite communication systems so as to remain in touch with other Greenpeace operations. Presently, the vessel will be used primarily as support for a 17-man Greenpeace team as it collects information and conducts investigations into environmental plans currently employed for the development of the area's natural resources.