Strategies for the preservation of the biome were debated during the Climate Conference, that has been taking place in Scotland since November 1st, bringing together the main world leaders

Strategies for the preservation of the biome were debated during the Climate Conference, that has been taking place in Scotland since November 1st, bringing together the main world leaders
The Amazon Forest, one of the largest and most diverse biomes on the planet, was the subject of debate among experts and government and civil society representatives during the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. A fair recognition of the largest tropical forest in the world, which extends over nine Brazilian states, concentrating one third of the world’s trees and 20% of the planet’s fresh water.

Speaking directly from Brasília to Glasgow, the Brazilian vice-president, General Hamilton Mourão, participated in a panel about the region as the president of the National Council for the Legal Amazon. Mourão defended the investment in waterways and ports in the Amazon river as a way to expand the local social and environmental growth. According to him, such financing lines would benefit the region’s value chains, allowing local people to have “better conditions to deliver their products”.

Regarding the local fauna and flora, the vice president indicated the need to match projects that explore the forest’s biodiversity and people with the capacity to invest.

“It is important that they understand that there is a return to their investments in the area. The Amazon opens up a huge range of opportunities. The potential of ecotourism is fantastic.However, we need to improve the infrastructure to receive these tourists. There needs to be more publicity. The tourism potential is great, but we need more hotels.”

According to Mourão, the National Council for the Legal Amazon has made a diagnosis of the region’s vulnerabilities in order to implement actions to protect the native forest and develop the communities. Among the objectives of this council are: to improve the fight against illegalities; to improve the monitoring system; to seek financing for development projects and for the bioeconomy; and to recover the operational capacity of inspection agencies.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

During the COP26, the Ministry of Environment (MMA) announced a recovery of 163,000 square kilometers of the Legal Amazon in 2020. The information was provided by the Secretary of the Amazon and Environmental Services of the Ministry of the Environment, Marta Giannichi. “This is important data because it means that areas that were previously deforested are now becoming forest again”, she said. The study was produced by technicians from Embrapa, from the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), and from the Management and Operations Center of the Amazon Protection System (Censipam). The expectation of the unprecedented research is that, by 2030, the area of recovered forest will be of 180,000 km².

Another announcement made during the COP26 was the installation of a reverse logistics system for electronic waste in all the state capitals in the Legal Amazon region, that is, in Manaus (AM), Rio Branco (AC), Macapá (AP), Belém (PA), Porto Velho (RO), Boa Vista (RR), Palmas (TO), Cuiabá (MT) and São Luís (MA). The plan is that, by April 2022, all cities will have the system, which will be responsible for ending the irregular disposal of electronic waste in the region. The action will contribute to end the disposal of unusable appliances, such as stoves, TVs, cell phones, and fans, in rivers and landfills, offering specific spaces to receive and dispose of the materials. Besides preserving the environment, the measure encourages the so-called circular economy.

“The product goes back to the productive sector, generating jobs and income with sustainability, while preserving natural resources, avoiding environmental pollution, reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It’s the circular economy advancing in Brazil”, said the secretary of Environmental Quality of the Ministry of the Environment, André França.

FOREST + AMAZON

Those present at the Climate Conference also highlighted the relevance of the Floresta + Amazonia (Forest + Amazon) program, implemented by the MMA, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

With resources from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), more than 500 million reais (USD 96 million) will be invested in the Legal Amazon by 2026, in activities such as payments for environmental services, monitoring and evaluation, management and innovation, in addition to strengthening the National Strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Environmental Degradation (ENREDD+). Great news for hundreds of cooperatives that already carry out forest recovery programs or are known for their low carbon production in the region, such as Camta.

In practice, the Floresta+Amazônia rewards those who protect and recover the forest and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The project’s beneficiaries are small rural producers, traditional communities, and indigenous people who provide activities for the protection and recovery of the native forest.

It is worth clarifying: created as a pilot project in February 2020, this initiative is part of the Floresta+ Project – an action by the Ministry of the Environment that creates, fosters, and consolidates the environmental services market, recognizing and valuing the environmental activities carried out and encouraging their monetary and non-monetary retribution in all the Brazilian biomes.