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Cracking Down on Illegal Logging in the Amazon

by Ali on March 17th, 2008

The Brazilian government has launched a new campaign aimed at stopping the illegal logging that is giving rise to increased deforestation in the Amazon. Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) depends on “forestry cops” in these efforts.

The job is dangerous and requires mettle. One of what Greenpeace calls “the good guys” (those who don’t fall prey to threats or bribes from illegal loggers) is a man named Roberto Scarpari. Despite assassination threats and long separations from his family, Scarpari is helping to combat devastation that threatens the forest and the planet.

Recently released statistics show that deforestation for the last five months of 2007 was 3,235 square kilometers (2,010 square miles), an increase over the previous year’s figure. - CSM

Hundreds of government agents, including Scarpari, are on the frontline of this battle. Their job is to enforce compliance to regulations, dispatch fines and help seize machinery and supplies used to harvest illegal lumber.

During the first week of the new crackdown in late February, code named Arch of Fire, authorities closed down three timber merchants and seized more than 9,800 cubic feet of illegal timber, enough to fill 200 trucks, IBAMA reported. - CSM

The task at hand, like the Amazon, is massive. And even though the government has shown its intent to crackdown on illegal activities, the agency’s reputation is far from perfect but people like Scarpari are helping effect positive change, even in the face of constant danger.

The Christian Science Monitor has a great article on IBAMA’s efforts and more on Roberto Scarpari.

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POSTED IN: Environmental Heroes, Natural Resources