Brazil to Protect Amazon Area From Ecological Damage
This nation, with a third of the world’s rain forests, Wednesday said it will act to protect the Amazon region after an international outcry over the rapid destruction of the region.
President Jose Sarney said the government is restricting official subsidies for agriculture in the region, where farmers have started fires on such a massive scale that scientists are worried about the effects on global climate.
Sarney, in his first televised speech devoted to the environment, also announced a ban on the export of logs and said all future agricultural and industrial projects will be subject to rigorous environmental controls.
“Our forests, our rivers, our fauna and flora are part of the national Brazilian patrimony, a heritage which we cannot allow to disintegrate,” he said.
This year an area the size of West Germany is expected to go up in flames. Scientists say fires in the vast region are producing one-tenth of the carbon dioxide rising into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the principal component of the greenhouse effect believed to be warming the earth’s climate.
The government measures, which include establishing six working groups, were viewed as a response to a wave of strong foreign criticism.
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