And the Survey Says…. Brazilians Don’t Support Changes to the Forest Code?
Posted under: And the Survey says …..Most Brazilians don’t support changes to their national Forest Code. The debate over these changes have grown increasingly heated over the past few months, and then, just last month they were approved in the Brazilian House of Representatives with the understanding that additional changes would be discussed when it went up for vote in the Senate.
So if legislators gave it the thumbs up, doesn’t that mean the people they represent – Brazilians – would agree? It doesn’t look that way. Our friends at Mongabay reported news from Brazil a week or two back that a recent survey conducted by Datafolha polling nearly 1,300 Brazilians from across the country demonstrates sharp opposition to proposed changes in Brazil’s Forest Code. The survey (sponsored by a variety of Brazilian environmental groups) found that 79% of survey respondents supported President Rousseff vetoing changes to the Forest Code which would grant amnesty to farmers and ranchers who illegally cleared rainforest in the past, in addition to allowing greater deforestation of the Amazon. If Brazilians oppose changes to the Forest Code, why don’t their representatives?
- Credit : Rachel Kramer / NWF – Change is Good? Well not when change means increased Deforestation.
According to Imaflora, one of the sponsors of the survey, the results of the poll demonstrate just how big the gap is between Brazilian popular opinion and legislators based in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia. The changes to the Forest Code are being promoted by powerful business and agriculture groups, but as the survey results demonstrate, Brazilians, both in rural and urban areas, oppose changes to the Forest Code which would escalate destruction of the Amazon. According to the survey, 79% of respondents opposed pardoning farmers and ranchers who had illegally deforested, and 77% of respondents believed additional scientific research was necessary to understand the total environmental impact revisions to the Forest Code would have. But with the vote being rushed to the Senate, it’s more than likely that this scientific research will not have the time to be done to see just how these changes will specifically impact the environment. But how many scientific studies do you need to tell you increased deforestation is definitely BAD for the environment – flat out destroying the biodiversity the Amazon is uniquely known for!
Our Message: The Brazilian Senate should listen to the citizens of Brazil and reject changes to the Forest Code approved by Brazil’s lower house. If the changes make it through the Senate, President Rousseff should move to veto the Bill!
