NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF: BRAZIL HARI SRINIVAS ROOM: I-312 / International Environmental Policy

Brazil: Environmental Features The environment of Brazil is characterized by high biodiversity with a population density that decreases away from the coast. Biodiversity: The number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region

Environmental Issues in Brazil As the home to approximately 13% of all known species, Brazil has one of the most diverse collections of flora and fauna on the planet. Impacts from agriculture and industrialization in the country threaten this biodiversity. Environmental issues in Brazil* deforestation in the Amazon Basin illegal wildlife trade Urbanization and industrialization air and water pollution land degradation and water pollution caused by mining activities wetland degradation severe oil spills

Environmental Issues in Brazil Brazil's large area comprises different ecosystems, which together sustain some of the world's greatest biodiversity. Because of the country's intense economic and demographic growth, Brazil's ability to protect its environmental habitats has increasingly come under threat Ecosystem: a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment Extensive legal and illegal logging destroys forests the size of a small country per year

Environmental Issues in Brazil Brazil has the highest number of animals of any single country in the world Brazil has  the highest primate diversity  the highest number of mammals  the highest number of amphibians  the second highest number of butterflies  the third highest number of birds  second highest number of reptiles There is a high number of endangered species, many of them living in threatened habitats such as the Amazon Forest.

Global Environmental Agreements As part of Brazil's environmental initiatives, it is party to the following international agreements: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol Antarctic-Marine Living Resources Antarctic Seals Antarctic Treaty Biodiversity Climate Change Kyoto Protocol Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Hazardous Wastes Law of the Sea Marine Dumping Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber Wetlands Whaling

Brazilian National Environmental Policy (1981) Environmental policy and law Brazil has one of the most complete environmental legislations in the world Polluting emissions guidelines Sustainable use of natural resource Applying sustainable development Guidelines for pollutions and emissions Multi stakeholders: legal organizations, NGOs, citizens + governments

Environmental Policy of Brazil Environ- mental Policy on specific issues Social participation Institutional reform Biodiversity protection Use of public lands Agriculture development Brazilian Environmental Policy (1981)

Brazil – National Environmental Policy The NEP covers many environmental issues: definition of standards licensing environmental impact assessment special areas for preservation incentives for cleaner production environmental zoning … etc.

10 Principles of the NEP 1. Government action in maintaining the ecological balance, considering the environment as a public asset to be necessarily guaranteed and protected, in view of collective use 2. The rational use of soil, subsoil, water and air 3. Planning and supervision of the use of environmental resources 4. Protection of ecosystems, the preservation of representative areas 5. Control and zoning of polluting or potentially polluting activities 6. Incentives to study and research technologies for the rational use and protection of environmental resources 7. Monitoring the state of environmental quality 8. Restoration of degraded areas 9. Protection of areas threatened with degradation 10. Environmental education at all levels of education, including community education, intended to enable them to participate actively in environmental protection

Brazil: Governmental organizations Other authorities are also responsible for the implementation of environmental policies, including  the National Council on the Environment  the National Council of the Amazon  the National Council of Water Resources  the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBIO)  Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA)  Board of Management of Public Forests, and others.

Brazil: Governmental organizations The Ministry of Environment is responsible for Brazil's national environmental policy The ministry's many departments deal with:  climate change and environmental quality  biodiversity and forests  water resources  sustainable urban and rural development  environmental citizenship

Ministry of Environment The Ministry of Environment (Ministério do Meio Ambiente; MMA) was established in 1992 to promote the adoption of principles and strategies for knowledge related to the environment, conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources. Department of Climate Change and Environmental Quality Secretary of Biodiversity and Forests Department of Water Resources and the Urban Environment Department of Extraction and Sustainable Rural Development Secretariat of Environmental Citizenship National Council of Environment (CONAMA) National Council of the Legal Amazon (CONAMAZ) National Council on Water Resources Advisory Board of the National Fund for the Environment Board of Genetic Heritage Management Commission Public Forest Management National Forestry Commission (Conaflor) Organizations within MMA:

Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) BAMA is the Brazilian government's main tool for providing information with regards to environmental welfare and protection, and acts as the “environmental police" It is responsible for implementing new policies and standards for environmental quality, evaluating environmental impacts, examining environmental degradation and for distributing environmental licenses. It has the power to impose administrative fines, but when more serious environmental crimes are committed, it is responsible for informing federal authorities for further prosecution.

Brazil’s iggest environmental problem Deforestation Indigenous groups Urbanization Agriculture policies Industrial Development Biofuel Production Global markets Climate change

Deforestation in Brazil Despite reductions in the rate of deforestation in the last ten years, the Amazon Rainforest will be reduced by 40% by 2030 at the current rate. Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest (about half the land area of Japan!!) According to the Living Planet Report 2010, deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate

A Closer Look at Brazilian Deforestation Today deforestation in the Amazon is the result of several activities, the foremost of which include:  Clearing for cattle pasture  Colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture  Infrastructure improvements  Commercial agriculture  Logging

Deforestation in Brazil Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world and as of 2005 still has the largest area of forest that is removed annually. Since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers (230,000 sq mi) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. In 2012, the Amazon was approximately 5.4 million square kilometers, which is only 87% of the Amazons original state. Rainforests have decreased in size primarily due to deforestation.

Economic benefits of environmental conservation Environmentalists have stated there is not only a biological incentive to protecting the rainforest, but an economic one as well: … if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber … if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested) … if used as cattle pasture. $6820 $1000 $148

Response to Deforestation Brazil has established an extensive network of protected areas which covers more than two million km 2 (25% of Brazil's national territory) and is divided almost equally between protected natural areas and indigenous land From 2002 to 2006, the protected land in the Amazon Rainforest has almost tripled, and deforestation rates have dropped up to 60%. About 1,000,000 km 2, have been conserved, which adds up to 1,730,000 km 2 - about 5 times the size of Japan!

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