One of three topics our group is deciding on pursing deals with the current deforestation issue in Brazil, specifically in the Amazon. Between 2005 and 2010 Brazil decreased its greenhouse gas emissions by 39 percent as a result of eliminating their deforestation rate in the Amazon by more than three quarters. It was not shortly after that though that in 2013 we started to see a spike in the deforestation rates. In 2013 the rates of deforestation doubled because of corruption, lawlessness and massive land fraud.
One of the main contributors to the massive increase in deforestation in Brazil is something called the “silent crisis”. This is the widespread tactic of timber laundering. Individuals are illegally harvesting trees in the Amazon by getting false documentation of where the timber actually originated from, thus being able to sell the timber as what would seem to be in a legal manner. As a result, in 2012, 78 percent of logging in Brazil’s largest timber producer, Para State, was illegal. Unfortunately, as I stated in the first paragraph, Brazil deals with a large degree of corruption throughout the country. While laws are set in place to avoid such illegal activity, there is often a blurred line in the Brazilian government for which government officials allow such activity to occur.
In the article I chose to read there is, a testimonial given by an individual named Rita Mesquita saying “I don’t like to look at the Amazon forest as something that could be gone in 30 or 40 years”. This is a very real and pressing matter that if not taken seriously, as Rita mentioned, could result in the elimination of one of the world’s most exotic and abundant sources of different species. Finding a way to eradicate the lawlessness and corruption in Brazil will not only be a crucial factor for the future existence of the Amazon but will also be a determinant in how quickly Brazil is able to get back on track in regards to reducing their greenhouse gas emission.
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/2015/04/03/brazils-deforestation-rates-are-rise-again-315648.html