Brazil asks investment firms to adopt protected Amazon areas
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s government on Thursday proposed that global asset-managers adopt protected areas in the Amazon rainforest in order to curb illegal deforestation ahead of the season farmers traditionally use fire to clear land and brush.
Vice President Hamilton Mourão, who heads the government’s council on the Amazon region, held a video call with representatives of investment firms and said he hopes for financial support from them to support environmental protection projects. Last month, mainly European investment firms sent a letter expressing concern over rising deforestation and demanded forceful action against illegal activities in the Amazon. The 34 firms that have now signed onto the initiative have a total $4.6 trillion in assets under management.
“The Adopt a Park program will permit each of these national and foreign companies to choose one of the 132 conservation units in the Amazon and start financially supporting them, for monitoring, prevention and recovery,” environment minister Ricardo Salles said in a press conference in Brasilia after the virtual meeting. The funding, for example, could pay for security to prevent people from entering the areas.
President Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019 with pledges to unlock the riches of the vast Amazon and has repeatedly opposed large territories being reserved for Indigenous peoples. His government faced international criticism last year when deforestation in the Amazon reached it worst level in 11 years. As a result, some members of European legislatures have said they would vote against ratification of a free-trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur customs union that includes Brazil, which was signed in June 2019 after two decades of negotiation.
Deforestation in the Amazon increased 22% in the first five months of...
