Amazon: Brazil Considers Extending Permits to Enter the Jungle
by Paula Alvarado, Buenos Aires on 04.29.08
(Picture: Getty Images) The Brazilian congress is considering a law project that establishes the need for permissions to enter the Amazon jungle. The permissions would be extended by the Defense Ministry to NGOs, foreigners and workers, and would be intended to prevent the illegal use of resources in the area.
The law project is supposed to be pondered in the Congress until July. If it's approved, those who break it and enter the jungle without legal authorization could face bills that could go from five to 100 thousand USD.
According to BBC Mundo, some scientists have warned that the measure could have a negative impact on investigation, as experts that find it hard to reach the jungle could seek other areas to develop their studies.
This source also informs that the Brazilian government is not trying to criminalize foreign visitors or those who work in the Amazon, but to separate positive from negative visits.
The Justice Minister Tarso Genro said that "the law is going to 'separate straw from wheat'," and that "this is a way to give prestige to the true NGOs giving support to those who are truthful, while protecting Brazil's sovereignty;" Folha do Sao Paulo newspaper informs.
With this measure, the government is trying to combat bio-piracy, international influence on natives, and selling of lands in the Amazon.
Brazil has hardened its attempts to preserve this region, the largest jungle in the planet, after deforestation in the area grew in 2007 and continues to do in 2008. According to the National Institute for Special Investigations, 639 square kilometers (about 247 thousand square miles) of the Amazon were deforested last January.
Recently, a disposition by the Monetary Council established that banks could not lend money to illegal lodging projects.
If interested in this region, check our archive of stories about the Amazon, specially the tale of our very own Jessica Root visiting the jungle.
::Original article (in Spanish) ::Folha de Sao Paulo article (in Portuguese)
Surely you meant "square miles" instead of "square feet." Originally I thought you might be using the comma to denote thousands, but I did the calculations (search google for "639 sq km in sq ft") and it's something like 6.9 BILLION square feet.
Also, English doesn't use the verb "treating" for new bills. Legislators "consider" or "ponder" or "weigh" new legislature.
I think this bill is a step in the right direction. IF it's properly managed, it will do wonders at preventing poachers and illegal loggers from entering and hurting the resources Brazil has left.
I already know a few researchers working in Brazil who are considering moving their research elsewhere... having faced research visa and permit requirements to work in Amazonia myself I can say that they are quite difficult to get!
However, for the most part these laws are already on the books, they're just not enforced very well. Research cannot be undertaken in the Brazilian Amazon without research permits, and doing work without them can get you arrested as a bio-pirate and then deported (and fined, which is what this "new" legislation would propose).
Still, it's not unreasonable that Brazil would seek to protect its natural wealth given the history of biopiracy it has been subjected to...
Hi Paul, yes you're right about the numbers, I'm changing it now. And thanks for the clarification on the word! Also correcting it.
cheers,
P