Conservation in Brazil
The area of the Amazon, as it is proven to be rich in diverse ores, fresh water and all kinds of natural resources, awaits greed from dozens of countries in the world.
Most of the soy plantation in the country is practiced in the region of Cerrado, a savanna with little vegetation that was barren and where agriculture was impractical until a few years ago.
[10][11][12][13] The export of tree trunks native to the Amazon (selling fresh wood, that is, without any type of processing), is an illegal activity in Brazil.
[14][15] In 2007 Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced at the International Conference on Biofuels in Brussels that Brazil's deforestation rate had dramatically slowed due to efficient fuel production and setting aside over 20 million hectares of forest.
[16] These protected areas, if fully enforced, will prevent an estimated one billion tons of carbon emissions from being transferred to the atmosphere through deforestation by the year 2015.
[23] For Brazil, and the countries that precede it, high rates of deforestation, industrialization, and urbanization explain the growing number of endangered species in extremely bio-diverse areas.
Ethanol production peaked during World War II because German submarines threatened oil supplies and the Brazilian government, in turn, looked for alternative fuel sources.
The Brazilian government has worked with both public and private sectors to provide incentive for creative inventions that would make the most use of Brazil's ethanol boom.
After testing in government fleets with several prototypes developed by local carmakers, and compelled by the second oil crisis, the Fiat 147, the first modern commercial neat ethanol car (E100 only) was launched to the market in July 1979.
Brazil's increased energy independence has allowed greater competitiveness between foreign oil producers, making gasoline even cheaper for Brazilians.
[33] The Brazilian model for success in ethanol, however, is hard to replicate because of Brazil's large amount of arable land and advanced agri-industrial technology.
For the past four decades, Brazil has taken serious steps to move towards greater energy security and federal environmental protection by advancing ethanol production as a complement to oil.
Using modern equipment and cheap sugar cane as feedstock, residual cane-waste (bagasse) is used to produce heat and power, resulting in competitive prices for energy.
[38] Another 2010 study published by the World Bank found that "Brazil's transport sector has a lower carbon intensity compared to that of most other countries because of its widespread use of ethanol as a fuel for vehicles.
"[39] The Brazilian government has responded to decades of high rates of deforestation and extremely environmentally harmful practices with macro level decisions that have impacted Brazil's culture, economy, and environment.
While some policies to reduce carbon emissions and deforestation are responses to economic tendencies, such as the rise of ethanol, others are motivated by locally organized non-governmental agencies and citizens alike.
[44] In order to have flexibility on its land use policies, Brazil has created a dynamic system of regulations that promote and require sustainability practices be implemented.
These are innovative frameworks as they offer the community the possibility to participate in decision-making and to apply financial mechanisms that make the system viable, as well as encouraging the conservation of natural environments.
[45] According to UNESCO's office in Brasilia, Brazil "has a little over 1,600 federal, state and private Conservation Units (CUs) that protect 16% of the continental territory and 0.5% of the marine area, which corresponds to 1,479,286 square kilometers.
