Brazil expects 72 percent reduction in deforestation by 2017
2/12/2008 15:56
Brazil's National Plan for Climate Changes, launched yesterday by
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, foresees a 72 percent decrease in the
deforestation in the country by 2017.
According to Environment Minister
Carlos Minc, the plan's goals for deforestation are divided in three periods of
four years. From 2006 to 2009, deforestation is to be reduced 40 percent
compared to the average registered between 1996 and 2005, which is 19,000 square
kilometers.
In the 2010 and 2013 period, deforestation is to be reduced 30
percent compared to the previous four-year period; and between 2014 and 2017,
deforestation is to be reduced another 30 percent.
That means that, by 2017,
the annual deforestation in Brazil would fall to 5,500 square kilometers.
"It
is a more ambitious goal than England's, which foresees an 80 percent reduction
by 2050," the minister said.
To reach that goal, Minc said, it will be
necessary to increase supervision and raise money for the Amazon Fund. The
Brazilian government expects to raise US$1 billion per year to the fund which
will be used to protect the remaining forest and recover damaged areas.
The
plan also foresees a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases, through
measures such as energy efficiency policies, an increase in the energy generated
by biomass and in the consumption of ethanol fuel.
Xinhua
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