As part of the World Environment Day (5 June) celebrations the Brazilian government announced a set of measures to combat illegal deforestation and promote sustainable development in the Amazon region. Announced in a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto (Presidential Palace), they include the following:

• Creation of three new protected areas;
• A bill that institutes the National Climate Change Policy;
• A decree that creates the Interministerial Group for the creation and operation of the Amazon Fund; and
• A decree that establishes criteria for the exploitation of mahogany.

2. The three new protected areas – namely the extractivist reserves of Médio Xingu River (state of Pará) and Ituxi (Amapá), and the Mapinguari National Park (Amapá) – have a total area of 26,532 km2 and constitute a new 'green belt' to contain the advancement of the agricultural frontier within the Amazonian biome. With these additions there are now about 611,000 km2 of protected areas, representing 14% of the biome.

3. It is important to remember that during the implementation of the first phase of the Action Plan for the Prevention and Control the Deforestation of the Legal Amazon (‘PPCDAM’) in 2004-08, almost 200,000 km2 hectares of protected areas were created and ownership of approximately 100,000 km2 of indigenous lands was ratified. In addition it is expected that 30% of this biome will constitute protected areas by 2010. In the current Government, the number of federal protected areas in the Amazon has increased from 76 (approximately 350,000 km2) to 111 (550,000 km2).

4. The bill that formulates the National Climate Change Policy, submitted to the National Congress on 5 June, aims to:

• reduce atrophic emissions of greenhouse gases, as well as strengthen their absorption by sinks in Brazilian national territory; and
• implement measures to promote adaptation to climate change in local communities, particularly those that are more likely to be vulnerable to its adverse effects.

5. The proposal of the National Climate Change Policy is the result of meetings held by the Executive Group coordinated by the Environment Ministry. This Executive Group comprises another six ministries, including the Ministry of External Relations, as well as the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change and the Office of the Chief of Staff. The Bill was also approved of by the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change ('CIM'), which comprises 16 ministries. The National Policy will be implemented along four axes: mitigation, vulnerability, impact and adaptation; research and development; training and public communication.

6. The Interministerial Group, created by decree, will also carry out studies and put forward directives for the establishment and operation of the Amazon Fund. Despite the fact that the Fund may eventually receive international donations, the fund will be national and its revenue will be managed by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES).

7. In addition, the President of Brazil signed a measure that establishes new criteria for the exploitation of mahogany. The new text of Decree 6,472 of 5 June 2008 definitively prohibits the felling of trees of this species where there is no plan for managed sustainable forestry (the contents of which are established by IBAMA – The Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), including in those areas where logging is authorized. The new text substitutes the understanding given by the preceding decree on this matter, which prohibited the extraction of mahogany for a period limited to five years only in areas that had permission for logging (article no. 3 of Decree 4,722 of 2003).

8. The measures announced add to the efforts of the Brazilian government both to combat illegal deforestation in the Amazon region and to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases.

Source: Ministry of External Relations