The murder of 73-year-old missionary Dorothy Stang in the Brazilian part of the Amazon basin, in the center of the state of Pará on February 12 this year, has provoked an almost immediate reaction from the government in relation to illegal occupation of public land in the north of Brazil and the exploitation of the area\’s natural resources.
On February 17, in light of the insecure public safety situation that has developed during conflicts between loggers, local inhabitants, indigenous peoples and the government, President Lula signed a package of six decrees, a temporary measure and a bill containing measures seeking to protect part of the region known as Terra do Meio (literally \”middle land\”). This area is located between the Xingu and Tapajós rivers in the state of Pará and has been ridden by major conflict related to the issue of land. Because of its abundant forest resources, this region is known as \”Terra do Meio hardwood reserve\” and coveted by loggers who take over these areas, invade indigenous land and displace other local inhabitants. In some cases, there has been use of slave labor as a result of land-grabbers activities. To make matters yet worse, this was the region worst hit by deforestation during 2004.
Because of this series of irregularities, two new conservation units for all-around protection of the environment were set up by presidential decree – the Terra do Meio Ecological Station, consisting of 3,373,111 hectares, and the Serra do Pardo National Park, of 445,392 hectares. The two together amount to almost 4 million hectares of areas of extreme importance in building up conservation efforts for the Amazonian biome.
In addition to the above, another three conservation units for sustainable use were also created in the states of Amazonas, Acre and Roraima – Balata-Tufari national forest (AM) with 802,023 hectares, Anauá national forest (RR) with 259,550 hectares and the Riozinho da Liberdade reserve (AC) for the extraction of forest products with 325,602 hectares.
All these measures were already under examination as means of attempting to reduce deforestation in Amazonia, but were brought forward on account of the crimes committed in Pará in recent weeks.
Furthermore, the sixth provisional measure cracks down on all activity in forests on federal public land located on the left of Highway BR-163 in the state of Pará. The government plans to introduce more conservation units in this 8.2-million-hectare region over the next six months. No activities involving exploitation of the land or arboreal vegetation will be allowed on the land interdicted by the government during this period of six months.
The Parkswatch Brazil team congratulates the federal government on the creation of these important conservation units and hopes that the resources needed to implement them will be available as soon as possible, so that they can really protect Brazil\’s natural heritage from the destructive and exploitative processes that are devastating the nation\’s heritage day after day. Our own and future generations will be grateful.
ParksWatch Brazil – February 2005