Law Proposal Threatens Atlantic Rainforest
10/24/97
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Headline: Law Proposal Threatens Atlantic Rainforest
Source: Servico Brasileiro de Justica
Date: 10/24/97
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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz).
Number 291, October 24, 1997.
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- Law proposal threatens Atlantic Rainforest
The Commission of Mines and Energy of the House of Deputies
voted by a margin of 7 to 6 in favor of a law project of Deputy
Paulo Bornhausen of the PFL party of the State of Santa Catarina
which if passed by Congress and the Senate would according to
experts speed up the devastation of the Atlantic Rainforest
region.
The law proposal submitted by Deputy Bornhausen transfers
from the federal government to municipal councils the right to
authorize forest clearance in the Atlantic Rainforest area. Small
farmers in such regions would be allowed according to the law
proposal to clear areas for cultivation. The law proposal brought
widespread criticisms from environmentalists. Others questioned
why it should be discussed in the Commission for Mining and
Energy since it already had been dealt with in the Commission for
the Defense of the Consumer, Environment and Minorities. ''If
this law is approved as it is we are making legally possible the
destruction of what has remained of the Atlantic rainforest''
commented Fabio Feldmann, Secretary of the Environment in the
State of Sao Paulo.
In all of Brazil only 7% of the original Atlantic Rainforest
remains. Between 1990 and 1995, 20.45% of the remaining area was
deforested according to a report in the 'Folha de Sao Paulo' on
October 23. A study carried out in 1993 based on photos taken
between 1985 and 1990 showed that 8.8% of the Atlantic rainforest
remained untouched. Another study based on data from the 1990 to
1995 period shows that this area had been reduced to 7%. These
comparative studies revealed that the greatest areas of
deforestation took place in the south of the State of Bahia, as
well as in the States of Espirito Santo and Rio de Janeiro.
We bring you two items prepared by the International Rivers
Network. The first is an update on a report which we sent you a
few weeks ago dealing with the proposed construction of the
Tapajos River Waterway. The second deals with the possible sale
of extensive niobium deposits in environmentally sensitive areas
of the Amazon. If you wish to contact International Rivers
Network the details are as follows:
Glenn Switkes,
Director, Latin America Program,
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way,
Berkeley, California 94703-1576, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
South America:
Tel/Fax: +55 65 627 1689
Seek Court Order to Halt Hidrovia Tapajos
Source: Folha do Estado, Cuiaba', October 19, 1997
Federal public interest lawyers working in the states of
Para' and Mato Grosso have asked a Federal Court judge to issue a
court order which would halt construction of the Teles Pires -
Tapajos River hidrovia industrial waterway, which would link
Santarem with Cachoeira Rasteira, Mato Grosso. According to
attorneys Felicio Pontes Junior and Jose Pedro Taques, the
hidrovia would "injure the rights of the Munduruku Indians
regarding use of their traditional lands".
Two months ago, the Munduruki blocked a road built through
their 2.5 million hectare reserve in Jacareacanga, extreme west
of Para', threatening to kill anyone who invaded their lands.
According to Pontes Junior, water projects affecting indigenous
areas can only be carried out with authorization of the national
Congress.
The total cost of the project, calculated only for the lower
part of the river as far upstream as Jacareacanga, would be $240
million.
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