Brazil

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The December 2015 Raíces newsletter focuses on the problems arising around approval and regulation of the Legal Framework on Biodiversity, and the impacts of this new law. In this recent rush to privatize nature and traditional knowledge, government and business groups have teamed up to introduce the legalization of biopiracy—under new labels.

On November 5th, one of the largest environmental disasters in the history of Brazil occurred.  Two dams operated by mining company Samarco burst in the state of Minas Gerais, dumping sludge with the company's toxic waste in an area where hundreds of families lived.  The disaster killed dozens of people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and destroyed the life of one of Brazil's major rivers, the “Río Doce.” This in turn has affected the water supply of hundreds of thousands

Subject: The proposal of the California government to include REDD+ offset credits from the state of Acre, Brazil, and from other states and countries with tropical forests. Montevideo, November 16, 2015

"Nobody eats eucalyptus."  With this statement farmers expressed their outrage when the company Aracruz Celulose expanded its monoculture eucalyptus plantations several years ago on arable land in Espirito Santo, Brazil.  While the objective was  to produce and export more pulp, Aracruz and other companies publicly promote their practices as "smart.” They claimed they only plant trees on "degraded" or "abandoned" land, for example.  And now with the climate crisis, the FAO suggests adopting "climate-smart forestry" practices.  The question that arises: Can we really consider current company

In the middle of the biggest continuous area of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, southwest of Sao Paulo, researchers of the University of Sao Paulo and the State University of Campinas accompany the changes in the region’s quilombola communities since 2003.

On September 21, about 300 indigenous peoples occupied the Nedila property in the municipality of Prado Bahia, Brazil, where the Suzano Company has a eucalyptus monoculture plantation. The main demand of the indigenous peoples is the immediate closure of the plantation, which is already causing great environmental destruction. The plantation is still not fully developed, but it is already showing its harmful effects on humans as well as on fauna and flora.

In 2013, the Rapporteur on human rights to the environment (RDHMA, for its Portuguese acronym), from the DhESCA Platform, conducted a Research and Advocacy Mission in the state of Acre on the green economy problematic and its political and territorial effects. Different state governments, especially in the Amazon, have already established or are in the process of defining state policies contemplating proposals for payments for environmental services and REDD+. Acre is one of the pioneers.

On August 25, 2015, employees of the Fibria Company in Tres Lagunas, Mato Grosso do Sul, made public the recent layoffs made by the company - one of the largest pulp producers in Brazil. “In the last few weeks alone there were almost 18 layoffs. And the worst is that some workers with occupational diseases were also dismissed.” The dismissals are thought to be a retaliation due to workers’ mobilization surrounding the creation of a new union organisation.