The Brazilian forest code

It is not over yet, the brazilian forest laws is still to pass or not to pass. It is said to be the most rigorous forest law in the world that is now changing, but how much and towards what end is the question still.

The final vote in the Chamber of Deputies has been postponed until March 2012, closer to the World Summit in Rio in June and more time for spreading the word...

So for those new to the problem:

Brazilian Senate and Chamber of Deputies (looks like a majority still) wants to drive through a revised forest law that would:

• Provide amnesty for areas illegally deforested before July 2008, including riversides and springs, and reduce the obligation to reforest.
• Alter the definition of a hilltop, making many areas more vulnerable.
• Make it possible to obtain amnesty and exemption from reforestation simply through a declaration that the deforestation took place before 2008, with no requirement for objective proofs like satellite monitoring.
• Make it possible, in cases where some form of restoration is still required, to use non-native species for 50% of the area, which could fuel the planting of oil palm or eucalyptus monocultures and negatively impact biodiversity.
• Allow illegal deforestation to be compensated for through restoration in places other than where the deforestation took place, condemning whole regions to become 'monoculture deserts' especially in the Brazilian south and south-east.
• Allow highly polluting activities like shrimp farming in coastal areas that are fundamental to mangrove swamp ecology. 

Although President Dilma promised in here election campaign that she would not allow any new waves of deforestation in the Amazon the process of making changes to the forest law has been accelerating during the last year and the changes passed through the senate just some weeks ago.

Unfortunately, the vote in the Chamber of Deputies was postponed not because of the fact that those in have need to gain ground, on the contrary. Some green amendments were added to the new code but not even the slightest changes in favor of nature was accepted by the powerful interests with their roots in cattle and agriculture that make up a majority of the members of the Chamber.

Without Dilma keeping her promise, using her Veto, and without massive campaigning against the changes in the new Forest Code until March, we will probably soon be seeing new and encreased waves of deforestation in the Amazon...