Concerns about the recent increase in deforestation and proposed changes to forest code are high on the Greenpeace agenda.

For a number of years the Brazilian government has indicated that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has declined sharply.  However, recent government figures showed that between March and April 2011 the rate is almost six times higher than last year.

Brazil is under pressure to protect the forest which plays a vital role in absorbing carbon dioxide which would otherwise contribute to climate change.

Amazon settlers are seen as the biggest threat to the survival of the forest.  Within the next few months the Brazilian President will need to make a decision regarding proposals to relax the Forest Code, which restricts how much land in the Amazon region can legally be cultivated. The dilemma for the President is the risk of jeopardising Brazil’s rapid economic growth by damaging its powerful agri-business interests and intense pressure from environmentalists not to approve any law that could encourage more deforestation in the Amazon.

Brazil exports more beef than any other country in the world and agriculture makes up a quarter of the country’s entire economic output. Farmers and major international agricultural business groups want an amnesty for farmers who may have cleared forest land illegally in the past, proposing that, instead of being fined, farmers who have broken the law should be required to buy more forest, equivalent to what they have cut down, in return for an undertaking to leave it untouched.

The Forest Code
Under the current law, 80% of a farm in the Amazon must remain forested: in other areas the requirement is lower, falling to 20%.  However, in practice, the legislation has not been widely enforced.  It is estimated that 20% of the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, has been cleared mainly as a result of logging and farming.

Under the new bill, small-scale landowners, who make up the majority of farmers, will be exempt from having to replant deforested land. One of the most controversial elements grants an amnesty to farmers with land of up to 400 hectares (990 acres) if they illegally cut down forest before July 2008.

The Leather Working Group is involved in discussions with Greenpeace on the subject of hide traceability through the raw material supply chain, supporting the movement to help reduce deforestation in the Amazon.  These changes to the law in Brazil will potentially set back the progress made on reducing deforestation and this is a worrying situation.

Satellite images obtained by the National Institute for Special Research reveal an almost six fold increase in deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon for March and April this year compared to the same period last year.

Brazilian Government figures show a 27% increase in deforestation of the world’s largest rainforest from August 2010 to April 2011. This reverses the situation recorded last year when deforestation was reported to have dropped to its lowest level in 22 years.

Mato Grosso was identified as a key area of destruction where rigorous action will be taken to reduce deforestation.

The Leather working Group is involved with this issue and the current LWG Audit Protocol 5.2.1, includes a section on hide traceability, requiring companies to have visibility through the supply chain of their raw material.  It is hoped that this requirement will help to reduce deforestation within the supply chain.