Putting an end to deforestation in Brazil by 2015

amazon_forest02.gifThis is the ambitious goal that was set at the beginning of the month by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), eight other NGOs and the government of Brazil.

This would to be reached by various sustainable development schemes that will include the local people, companies and government.

This is high time for such a project to be launched as according to various scientists, already 17 percent of the Amazon forest have been cut off.

It might be worth mentioning that in a previous article I was mentioning that the deforestation in Brazil is slowing down and that in another article I talked about a proposition by an Indonesian official to reduce deforestation by 80 percent. These are encouraging news and today’s one is going even further on optimism.

According to the WWF press release :

WWF-Brazil joined eight other Brazilian non-governmental organizations to launch a pact to reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon to zero by 2015.

The pact proposes to reduce deforestation by adopting a system of reduction targets through economic mechanisms, mainly based on the payment for environmental services. It also aims to establish a wide-ranging commitment between different sectors of the government and the Brazilian society to conserve the Amazon.

“This is a unique initiative to ensure Amazon rainforest conservation, given its crucial importance in maintaining biodiversity and the global climate balance, as well as preserving the way of life of millions of people who rely on the forest to survive,” said Denise Hamú, CEO of WWF-Brazil.

Scientists estimate that approximately 17% of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has already been destroyed. High deforestation rates are leading to an accelerated depletion of biodiversity and are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to increasing global warming.

The new pact is pushing for a 25 per cent deforestation rate drop in the first year compared to the 1,400,000 hectares of forest lost in 2005-2006, and an overall reduction in deforestation of 6,873,780 hectares in seven years.

It is estimated that 1 billion Brazilian reais (US$547.2 million) would be required from national and international sources to financially compensate those who promote reduction in deforestation, and to pay for environmental services carried out by the forest.

Economic incentives will be directed to strengthen forest governance, including monitoring, control and inspection, and will be used to create and implement more protected areas and indigenous lands.

Brazil’s Environment Minister, Marina Silva, who attended the launch of the pact in Brazil’s National Congress, committed the federal government’s support for the proposal. She was joined in that support by the governments of four Amazonian states, as well as parliamentarians from different regions of Brazil.

“Only through the mobilization of state and federal governments, the private sector and environmental NGOs can we can reach significant results for the conservation and promotion of sustainable development in the Amazon,” Hamú said.

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