South America Calling

Brazil government has announced deforestation of the Amazon rose 29% in the 12 months to July 2013.

While the jump is small compared with the fivefold decline in clearance since 2004, it comes at a delicate time for the soy industry, which recently said it will lift its moratorium on buying beans from the Amazon in 2015

Satellite data showed some 5,891 square kilometers (2,274 square miles) were cut from the world's largest rainforest in the year through July 2013, which is obviously of concern given its crucial role in limiting greenhouse gas emissions and preserving biodiversity.

The bulk of the clearance took place in Mato Grosso, Brazil's principal agricultural state, and in neighboring Para, which has seen agriculture grow significantly over the last two years.

But the rise does not mean a return to the logging free-for-all of the 1980s and 1990s.

Since 2004, increased monitoring, most notably through satellite images, and the greater presence of on-the-ground inspectors has cut clearance dramatically -- in 2004 Amazon clearance totaled 27,772 sq km -- and those checks remain in place.

The increase may mean renewed focus on agriculture and deforestation though, especially if Marina Silva, a former Amazon activist, wins the presidential election in October.

For the soybean industry, the latest jump in deforestation is unhelpful.

In 2006, it announced a moratorium on purchases of soybeans on illegally or newly cleared land in a bid to cut the link between deforestation and grain farming.

The ban has been effective. According to the industry, which estimates that soybean planting was responsible for just 0.7% of clearance in 2012.

But the industry will end the moratorium on Dec. 31, 2014, arguing the implementation of the new Forestry Code makes the ban unnecessary.

The new code, passed in 2012, offers new clear guidelines on farmers' obligations in the forest.

That's fine in principle. The problem is that, two years after Congressional approval, the code is still not being implemented amid delays in the process of registering properties.

The growth in deforestation leaves the industry open to accusations from environmentalists that they are effectively lifting restrictions on soybean farming in the Amazon just when deforestation is once again on the rise.

(AG)

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