Governo anunciará medidas para conter desmatamento na Amazônia - English Version

JOINT COMMUNIQUÉ

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE PRESIDENCY
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Preliminary Actions of the Federal Government to
Combat Increased Deforestation in the Legal Amazon

Data from the period of August 2000 to August 2001 showed an increase of about 15% with respect to original INPE estimates [of deforested areas], from 15,787 sq km to 18,166 sq km.
Confirming this growth trend, the forecast for the period August 2001 to August 2002 is 25,476 sq km, corresponding to an increase of approximately 40% in comparison to the previous period.
This data, made available by INPE on June 25, confirmed the unacceptable expansion of deforestation in the Amazon, particularly over the past three years, which had already been partially detected by institutions and experts working in the region.
Given the existing evidence of the extreme seriousness of the problem, the current Administration, through the Office of the Chief of Staff and the Ministries of Science and Technology, and the Environment, defined, in meetings held from early June, a set of initial procedures in order to structure and provide substance for its intervention to revert the observed trend:
- Bring together all the Ministries concerned to identify causes and to implement measures to solve the problem;
- Make the deforestation data available, an unprecedented move, with the aim of fostering debate and involving stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of actions for combating deforestation;
- Promote technical and qualified analysis of the historical series of INPE data from the years 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002, together with public and private institutions that are involved in the region to:
1. Identify the principal agents of deforestation, trends and scenarios;
2. Discern the areas in which deforestation is an authorized legal activity from those in which deforestation is an illegal activity;
3. Identify new areas where deforestation is advancing;
4. Define critical areas where the implementation of emergency measures for combating illegal deforestation should be a priority;
5. Propose improvement of the methodologies used to assess deforestation in the region, including the introduction of a real time monitoring system that will allow the Government to take preventive actions.

In order to follow up on these measures, next Monday, June 30th, a technical meeting will be held to consolidate the qualitative analysis of the data and provide inputs for a meeting open to all interested parties on the following day, which is to be followed by an Interministerial Meeting, also on July 1st.