Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 64621 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 08BRASILIA1378, BRAZIL DEFORESTATION UPDATE - OCTOBER, 2008

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #08BRASILIA1378.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BRASILIA1378 2008-10-20 09:37 2011-07-11 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Brasilia
VZCZCXRO9340
RR RUEHAST RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHTM
DE RUEHBR #1378/01 2940937
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200937Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2697
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2944
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6772
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8606
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001378 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/PCI - L.SPERLING 
DEPT FOR OES/ENCR - C.KARR-COLQUE 
DEPT FOR OES/EGC - D.NELSON AND T.TALLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KSCA BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL DEFORESTATION UPDATE - OCTOBER, 2008 
 
REF: BRASILIA 1159 
 
BRASILIA 00001378  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1.  (U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
2.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Government of Brazil (GOB) had another bad 
month in August in its efforts to reduce the rate of deforestation: 
the rate more than tripled compared to August 2007.  Against this 
backdrop, the Environment Minister Carlos Minc announced twelve 
additional measures to reinforce the GOB's efforts to combat 
deforestation.  Most notably, Minc released a list of the top one 
hundred contributors to deforestation, with a promise to take legal 
action against them.  This step stirred up a controversy because at 
the top of the list was the Brazilian Land Settlement Agency 
(INCRA), which resettles the landless.  At around the same time, the 
GOB released for public comment a proposed National Plan on Climate 
Change (SEPTEL), which calls for reducing the rate of "illegal" 
deforestation to zero and eliminating the "net" loss of the area of 
forest coverage by 2015.  During this same period, Minc acceded to 
demands from the agriculture lobby to water down tough changes to 
strengthen the National Environmental Crimes Law proposed by his 
predecessor, Minister Marina Silva.  This has provoked sharp 
criticisms from some in the environmental community, especially from 
former Minister Silva.  Minc did succeed in persuading the 
Agriculture Ministry to exclude the Amazon and some other sensitive 
areas from the planting of sugar cane in a new zoning regulation to 
be released.  END SUMMARY 
 
YET ANOTHER BAD MONTH FOR FIGHTING DEFORESTATION 
 
3.  (SBU) ON September 29, the Brazil's National Space Research 
Institute (INPE) announced the amount of deforestation for the month 
of August: 756 square kilometers.  Environment Minister Carlos Minc 
- not one to sugarcoat matters - exclaimed, "The numbers are just 
terrible."  The August 2008 figure represents a 228 percent increase 
compared to the amount of forest cleared in the same month for the 
previous year, i.e., 230 square kilometers.  Further, the August 
figure is more than twice that for July, i.e., 323 square 
kilometers.  The northern state of Para was responsible for almost 
60 percent of the total forest clearing in August. 
 
4.  (SBU) INPE is expected to release its annual rate of 
deforestation later this year, which uses more precise and reliable 
data than that employed for monthly rates.  Expectations are that 
the annual rate will be significantly higher than the 11,532 square 
kilometers cleared in the September 2006-August 2007 annual period. 
 
 
TWELVE NEW MEASURES 
 
5.  (SBU) In response to the bleak numbers in August and earlier 
months, Minc announced twelve new measures to step up efforts to 
reduce deforestation.  Most notably, he released a list of the top 
100 illegal deforesters, with a promise to work with federal 
prosecutors to take legal action against the culprits.  The other 
measures are: 
 
- The creation of a new federal task force to fight deforestation 
and combat environmental crimes.  This unit will have three thousand 
officials, two thousand working with Brazil's Environmental Agency 
(IBAMA) and one thousand with the Institute Chico Mendes, which 
manages conservation areas; 
 
- The launching of law enforcement operations in the second half of 
October 2008 to expel illegal loggers from the national forests in 
the north-western state of Rondonia. 
 
- An intention to work with state governments in the Amazon to 
develop their state-level plans for combating deforestation, which 
is a precondition for obtaining financial support from the new 
national Amazon Fund (REFTEL). 
 
- The creation of six new check points / monitoring stations on the 
principal highways through the Amazon to deter the transportation of 
illegal wood and charcoal. 
 
- The formation of an inter-ministerial committee for fighting 
deforestation that will define strategies and actions, which will be 
composed of representatives from six different ministries; 
 
- The development of a system for issuing of federal Forest Origin 
Documents, which should help deter fraud in the logging sector; 
 
 
BRASILIA 00001378  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
- The setting up of a Forest District along the north-south BR-163 
highway (Cuiaba-Santarem) to better control and protect the region 
(this project will be financed through six million Euros donated by 
the European Union); 
 
- The creation of a working group to designate conservation units 
along the length of the north-south BR-319 (Porto Velho-Manaus) 
highway, which is undergoing upgrades and completion of the paving 
process; 
 
- The revision of the national Program for the Prevention and 
Combating of Deforestation (PPCDAM) with the aim of strengthening 
efforts along the so-called Arc of Fire, where most of the 
deforestation is occurring; 
 
- The equalization of rights of mining communities with those of 
settlers in communities established by the Brazilian Land Settlement 
Agency (INCRA), and release the first management plan for an INCRA 
settlement in Rondonia. 
 
- The organization of workshops in states to facilitate the 
licensing of rural settlements and the recuperation of Mining 
Reserves and Permanently Protected Areas. 
 
BRAZIL'S WORST OFFENDER? THE GOVERNMENT OF BRAZIL 
 
6.  (SBU) Minc's list of the nation's top one hundred deforesters 
immediately caused a political storm because at the top of the list 
of offenders was the Government of Brazil itself, namely, INCRA. 
Initially, Minc said that criminal charges would be opened against 
all the main deforesters.  (NOTE:  Minc tried to defuse the 
political mess by saying he had released the list without reading it 
first and, to make matters even worse, claimed that the list had 
been prepared by his predecessor Marina Silva.  END NOTE). 
 
7.  (SBU) INCRA's President Rolf Hackbart pushed back.  He 
challenged the inclusion of INCRA on the list saying that the data 
used to prepare it was from 1998 and completely obsolete. 
Subsequently, Minc promised to have the list reviewed.  He further 
announced that in talks with INCRA it was determined that instead of 
taking any legal actions against INCRA, INCRA would turn over to the 
Environment Ministry an unspecified amount of land (in a place to be 
named later) as compensation.  For the others on the list, Minc said 
that his ministry would work with prosecutors to bring criminal 
charges and/or seek heavy fines. 
 
PROPOSED NATIONAL PLAN ON CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
8.  (SBU) Around this same time, on September 30, the Environment 
Ministry released for public comment a proposed National Plan on 
Climate Change (SEPTEL).  The proposed plan addresses the problem of 
deforestation.  It calls for, among other actions, measures to 
reduce the "illegal" deforestation rate to zero, as well as 
achieving a sustainable decrease in the overall deforestation rate. 
In addition, the plan proposes to eliminate the "net" loss of the 
area of forest coverage by 2015.  Key to the plan is reforestation 
and developing tree plantations (such as eucalyptus, which would 
produce wood for making coal).  The final version of the plan should 
be ready to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference to take 
place in Poznan, Poland, December 1-12, 2008. 
 
CHANGES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME LAWS 
---------------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU) On October 8, 2008, Minc announced his revision to changes 
proposed earlier by his predecessor, Min. Marina Silva, to the 
country's Environmental Crime Law.  The earlier version would have 
imposed tough requirements on farmers and ranchers in the Amazon 
region, and the Ministry of Agriculture had objected.  Minc 
essentially split the difference between the agriculture and the 
environmental communities.  The main changes refer to the time frame 
farmers will have to bring their properties into compliance with the 
requirements to maintain a forest reserve of 80 percent.  Also, the 
changes would reduce the penalties for non-compliance.  Instead of 
denying benefits to a farmer for all the land in question for 
non-compliance, the penalties - such as a cutoff of government 
credits - would only the non-compliant portion.  The proposed text 
still has to go the President for approval before going to Congress. 
 The Congress has a powerful rural contingent that may seek to 
further amend the bill or just kill it. 
 
10.  (SBU) During a Senate hearing, Minc was heavily criticized by 
his predecessor, now Senator Marina Silva, who said that by changing 
 
BRASILIA 00001378  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the current legislation the country is creating an even bigger 
problem for the environment.  Silva also criticized Minc's 
permission for the planting of biofuel crops in already degraded 
areas of the Amazon Forest. 
 
NEW ZONING PLAN 
 
11.  (SBU) The Environment Ministry has been working with the 
Agriculture Ministry on developing a new zoning plan to govern 
sugarcane.  Minc and Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes 
announced that the plan would be ready later this year.  According 
to both ministers, the only pending part of the report refers to 
whether or not sugarcane planting will be allowed in the high 
plateaus of the Pantanal region.  Minc anticipated the results by 
saying that the studies have identified 65 million hectares of 
possible sugarcane planting lands outside the Pantanal and Amazon 
Biomes.  The area also excludes land with native vegetation coverage 
in any of the country's biomes, as well as sloped land where 
mechanical planting cannot be used and therefore the use of fire 
would be considered necessary. 
 
12.  (SBU) "All we have to do now is choose six million hectares out 
of the total 65, so that we can meet our goals established in the 
National Climate Change Plan for the production of ethanol", said 
Minc during the hearing.  The Plan establishes an eleven percent 
yearly increase in ethanol production in order to bring down CO2 
emissions. 
 
COMMENT 
 
13.  (SBU) Environment Minister Minc has injected new energy and 
greater pragmatism into the GOB's efforts to reduce the high 
deforestation rate.  He doesn't shy from admitting problems with the 
current efforts, and he is willing to try new measures.  Further, 
Minc has shown his pragmatism by working with the Agriculture 
Ministry even when it draws the ire of environmentalists or his 
predecessor Marina Silva.  This is reflected in the proposed 
National Plan on Climate Change, which envisions halting "net" loss 
of forest coverage at the same time that it includes reforestation 
and tree plantations as tools (an anathema to some in the 
environment community).  END COMMENT. 
 
SOBEL