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7th July 2000

BRAZIL - The Environmental Defense Organization has announced that leaders of Brazil's Congress have just shelved proposed legislation to increase the area and rate of Amazon forest destruction, handing the Brazilian environmental movement its first major and precident-setting victory in protecting the rainforest. Representatives of powerful special interest groups had pushed a draft law through a joint House/Senate Committee that would have loosened restrictions on Amazon deforestation, and could have caused a 25% increase in annual rates of clearing and burning. Massive e-mail and fax protests to Congress and the President from all over the world, and broad national media coverage killed the measure before it could come to the House floor. At one point, government officials blocked the massive flux of protest emails - but backed down when the move was derided as censorship in the press. Press and TV coverage overwhelmingly opposed the measure, as did the Environment Ministry.

The special interest caucus, which was pushing for passage of the law, has some 200 votes in the Congress, and represents the 1% of the landowners who control more than 50% of Brazil agricultural land (while 50% of the farmers have only 3% of the land). The group has repeatedly used government-sponsored legislation to support parochial, pork-barrel projects considered unseemly even by the standards of the Brazilian Congress. These maneuvers have yielded tens of billions in official debt forgiveness for the few largest debtors while health care, education, and environment budgets suffered deep cuts. So this "first victory" is particularly significant in Brazil, beyond just helping to save the rainforest. According to Environmental Defense senior scientist Stephan Schwartzman, "it is a victory over the inequality, injustice, class privilege, and impunity that have plagued Brazil for 500 years. This legislation represented a battle between the mentality of the 19th century and the 21st, over the future of the Amazon. Its important that the 21st won."

For further information: Steve Schwartzman
sschwartzman@environmentaldefense.org