Brasília, July 2, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, said today, on the TV Globo's "Good Morning, Brazil" program, that, for the first time in the country's history, the government will have a concerted environmental protection program.
Marina Silva explained that her Ministry is not alone now in assuming the immense responsibility for protecting the environment. From now on, for example, roads will no longer be built without compensatory actions, such as the creation of areas of conservation. This will prevent what she classified as government schizophrenia. "When you build a road, you have to demarcate indigenous areas and define investment programs, so that the agricultural activities that are carried on respect the quality of the environment," she explained.
When asked about the law that restricts landowners to downing forests in only 20% of the area that can be planted, the Minister said that, since taking office, she has taken a determined stand in favor of compliance with the law. With support from the modern information system made available by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the government was able to avoid the devastation of 150 thousand hectares of forest in the municipality of Lábrea (AM). In Mato Grosso, they were also able to prevent the destruction of 17 thousand hectares of forest.
The Minister informed that an integrated system is being set up to grant environmental licenses for rural properties in the Amazon region. This system will have an infrastructure capable of providing up-to-date information and satellite images to identify deforestation and slash-and-burn areas, property by property. Through this process, Marina Silva pointed out, an action front can be mounted along preventive and pro-active lines to reduce criminal activities in the Amazon.
Silva emphasized the need to concert governmental activities on behalf of sustainable development. This includes a credit system to favor the use of areas that have already been deforested. In the Amazon region, there are 600 thousand square kilometers of deforested areas, and, according to the Minister, investments are needed for these areas to become productive again.
Today, the first ministerial meeting will be held to plan a big operation to control forest fires, especially in the Amazon region.
Attending the meeting will be representatives of the Ministries of Environment, the Presidential Advisory Staff, Science and Technology, Agrarian Reform, Agriculture, Transportation, National Integration, and Defense. (DAS)
