While the EU has just voted to ban
illegal timber, yesterday Brazil
came a step closer to severely weakening the forest
code which has helped protect the Amazon rainforest for over 70 years. The
Brazilian congress approved the plan to amend the legislation, and if it
becomes law then the area of the rainforest which can be legally destroyed will dramatically increase.
Paulo Adario and others
from our Brazilian office were present and activists protested against a yes vote. There was also plenty
of criticism from other concerned parties - environmentalists, rural
organisations and legal representatives, for instance - but still the vote
passed.
The amended forest code still has
to pass several more hurdles before it reaches the statute books, but with each
yes vote it becomes more and more likely it will do so. Eventually, it will
have to go to the president who can sign it into law or kick it out. Hopefully
it won't get that far, but we'll let you know how you can help if and when the
time comes.
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