Posted: 2009-07-07 16:38
Photo by Lilly Knits
By Fabricio Angelo
The question of infrastructure in the Amazon is central to the development of the region. Unfortunately, the Brazilian government too often works with concepts that fail to take into account the importance of a low carbon economy.
A series of plans are being imposed on the people of the Amazon under the guise of 'bringing development' to the region. The pressure of civil society groups, however, is helping to create a new vision for regional development.
This new way, however, is not the easiest road to take. The construction of hydroelectric plants, and the increase of the road grid inside the forest, to the detriment of other forms of transport, often takes precedence over new technologies that demand less cost and environmental loss.
According to Marcos Mariani, president of the NGO Preserve Amazonia, data from electronic maps showing real-time deforestation provided by the federal government shows that deforestation is strongest in those areas where paved roads exist.
"It's clear that the risk of deforestation in one area is directly linked to the possibility of access to that area. Therefore, the highway offers far greater risk to the Amazon than it does benefits," he said.
In accordance with a resolution of CONAMA, the national body that studies and advises on the environment in Brazil, environmental impact studies must be conducted for major projects like road building in the Amazon, and should include all technological alternatives.
Mariani explained that the impact of highways in the Amazon has been a hotbutton issue for all branches of the Brazilian government charged with protecting the national environment.
"The topic of transport in the Amazon was the subject of intense debate during national environmental discussions last year. Although there seemed to be the opportunity to really shift the paradigm of development in the region, supporting it with all the necessary legal studies, it just doesn't seem to be happening," Mariani said.
He offered the example of the more than 3,000 kilometers of road that are being planned to be built inside the forest in areas where the risk of deforestation is already high. He pointed out railroads and barges
as safer forms of transport- not to mention cheaper and more democratic.
"The substitution of the road model of transport for one of the other less impactful forms creates an enormous potential to attract foreign capital, since the deforestation prevented by the less harmful modes can be converted into 'positive carbon credits' and sold to developed nations who need to diminish their CO2 emissions," he said.
According to research presented in the annual meeting of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science in July 2007, only 10% of the residents who live along the major Amazon highway BR 163 own automobiles. This demonstrates that the real intention of road building schemes is less to benefit the local
communities, but rather to help facilitate access to the forest for big businesses.
"The ease of indiscrimate access to the highways brings with it the economic impetus to cut down trees for a profit," Mariani explained.
To that end, Mariani affirmed that the government must review its transport policies in the Amazon, and the sooner the better.
Government representative Johannes Eck did not dispute Mariani's allegations. She did say that concern toward sustainable development has been a key motivation since the beginning of Lula government.
"We are still trying to correct the errors of the past and to establish social and environmental standards for the Amazon region. It is a long and complex process."
She explained that the government's job is further complicated by the many stakeholders and their differences of opinion.
"We are trying to bring infrastructure with the least possible environmental impact, as well as trying to resolve the question of farming in the Amazon, which is also one of the main problems associated with deforestation," she said.
Eck cited the creation of protected biodiversity zones on the edges of the highways, among other accomplishments, as proof that the federal government is searching for less impactful alternatives for the Amazon.
"We support initiatives such as the Amazon Sustainability Forum that help open up a dialogue with all sectors of society to help find the best way to establish social development and environmental preservation in the region," she said.
According to Diogenes Alves, senior researcher at the National Institute for Space Research, which runs an Amazon research center, one of the major causes of the region's environmental troubles stems from Brazil- like so many other countries- suffering drastic economic and industrial changes in the last few decades and lacking the time to think about the consequences.
"Today it's becoming more important to think about infrastructure models that are economically viable, ecologically correct, and politically and socially balanced," he said. "The highways constructed in the 90's have been a big cause of deforestation. In a radius of 100 kilometers around those highways you will find 90% of the deforested areas. We've made many advances since then, so it's important to rethink these paradigms so that new disasters do not occur."
The assistant Attorney General, Dr. Mario Gisi, goes one step further. He criticizes the forms of licenses that give big business the freedom to harm the Amazon. "The licensing of businesses in this country is one that is supposed to keep them accountable. How, then, can a gigantic project, such as a hydroelectric plant, get environmental approval in four months? Unfortunately, what we are seeing more often are the interests of politicans above social interests."
According to Gisi, a bigger participation by the people of the region and stronger studies of the environmental impact of projects can help establish social and environmental equality. "A greater transparency in the licensing processes is necessary to stop the destruction," he said.
Currently, the construction of highways is the leading cause of degradation to the Amazon's environment. If the work continues on the same scale, the environmental impact of highway projects, like BR-319, which will cross the largest area of unbroken forest in Brazil, will have irreversible consequences.
As University of Sao Paolo professor Virgilio M. Viana reminds, the deforestation necessary to clear space for the pavement of BR-319 will launch more than 4.9 billion molecules of CO2 into the atmosphere by 2050. "The potential negative impacts of the construction of highways in the Amazon will further prove the importance of a new transport system for the Amazon," he said.
This article was originally published in Envolverde, in Portuguese. It can be
found at: http://www.ecoagencia.com.br/?open=noticias&id===AUUF0dZhFaWJlVaVXTWJVU
