Brasília, May 26, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Inspection activities by the Ministry of Environment were able to reduce the rate of deforestation in the Amazon. The increase in deforestation, 28% in 2001, fell to 2% in 2003. In effect, this means that deforestation continues on the rise, but the pace of growth is much slower than in previous years.

Even though the indexes are encouraging, the Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, observed that the 22,750 square kilometers of Amazon forest that were destroyed represents the second highest figure ever registered, inferior only to 1995, when over 29,000 square kilometers were deforested. "It is a highly troubling statistic, but the decrease bolsters our resolve to deal with deforestation," she told a public hearing in the Senate yesterday (25).

Silva informed that 90% of the deforested area is located in Mato Grosso (44%), Para (31%), and Rondônia (15%). According to the Minister, the number of inspection operations has increased. Whereas 19 large inspection operations were carried out in 2002, 32 such operations were conducted in 2003. "One of them prevented the destruction of 50 thousand hectares of forest," the Minister recalled, noting that 90% of the lumber extracted in the region is extracted through the use of inadequate management techniques.

During the Senate hearing, the Minister of National Integration, Ciro Gomes, who was also invited by the legislators to talk about the Sustainable Amazon Plan, declared that the plan, prepared at the request of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, provides for programs of financing and social inclusion accompanied by environmental management and territorial organization. "It is untrue that infrastructure and economic development imply the depredation of natural resources," he remarked, adding that 24% of the territory in the Amazon is privately owned, 29% consists of protected areas, and 47% is public or devolved. "For this reason it is essential to resolve the question of property ownership," he said.

Reporter: Ellis Regina
Translator: David Silberstein