Tag Archives: amazon deforestation

The Amazon pays the bill for forest destruction

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Amazon River in Brazil

Lack of governance and amnesty allow large-scale Amazon deforestation to continue.
Seven years ago, Leonardo Andrade Gomes was considered to be the single biggest forest destroyer in the Amazon. In addition to other infractions, he was found responsible for the deforestation of 12,500 hectares of Amazon forest and fined more than 18 million reais (US$8.6 million). Continue reading →

Threat to Amazon delayed, as new Forest Code vote is postponed to 2012

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The next stage of voting on Brazil’s new Forest Code – which could have devastating impacts on the Amazon – has been once again postponed before going to President Dilma, who can either approve or veto it. The new code, which has been labelled a ‘forest protection measure’, has been so badly altered that it has become nothing more than an invitation for bulldozers and chainsaws to come to the forests.
November 29, 2011 - Greenpeace activists march with a 4 meter high replica of the Rio de Janeiro Christo Redendor statue from the biggest square in the Hague -the 'Malieveld'- to the Brazilian embassy. Image: Cris Toala Olivares


November 29, 2011 - Greenpeace Netherlands activists march with a four meter high replica of the Rio de Janeiro Christo Redendor statue from the biggest square in The Hague - the 'Malieveld'- to the Brazilian embassy.


The new forest proposal was passed by the Senate last week, and was set to be voted on this week by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Brazil’s National Congress. However, at the Chamber meeting, the vote that was meant to happen was postponed until March 2012. While this means more time for the agribusiness sector to make even more damaging changes to the Forest Code – it also means more time to make sure President Dilma hears the worldwide demand to protect the Amazon.

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