Environmental conservation %26 sustainable development
An article published in the Brazilian daily A Gazeta a few days ago remarks once again the importance of protected areas to prevent environmental damages from heavily impacting economical activities.
The Brazilian Ministry of the Environment has recently launched an Action Plan to keep and expand the amount and extension of conservation areas, which contemplates – among others – a series of agreements with the various States of the Brazilian Federation. Scope: establish the correct task sharing and activate all the relevant control actions.
Another primary focus of the Action Plan is the provision of infrastructures for those forest zones that suffered heavy clear-cutting when building federal roads. Between 1974 and 2000 a good 75%25 of deforestation in Brazil happened along communication roads, with an extension as wide as 50 km on each side of the highways.
A central issue in the environmental debate - gaining more and more relevance even through national and international programs such as this Action Plan - is the urgency to move to projects targeting both conservation and sustainable development, through actions which can focus on bio-diversity protection.
According to Mr. Hugo J. S. Werle, managing director at IBAMA (the Brazilian Governmental Agency for the Environment) in MT, the actions in the Plan will not interfere with economic development; instead, %22environmental legislation will provide coverage and support for economic growth%22, he states.
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