"For the first time, deforestation in the Amazon is under control. And we will not return to the previous levels of destruction", said minister Carlos Minc, stressing that the joint effort of ministries of the Environment and Justice was responsible for the anticipation, in five years, of the goal of continued reduction of deforestation that Brazil presented to the United Nations.
The minister of the Environment and the minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, signed on Tuesday (February 9) a bill for the establishment of the Environmental Protection Fund and the Interministerial Commission to Fight Environmental Crimes and Offenses (CICCIA). Carlos Minc announced that the Commission will also fight deforestation in the Cerrado and in the Caatinga.
The minister of Justice emphasized that CICCIA has the support from President Lula. The Commission joins efforts of Ibama, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and the Brazilian Intelligence Agency, among other institutions.
"The integration creates a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts", said Minc, noting that Brazil and President Lula had an outstanding participation at the UN meeting in Copenhagen, in December. According to him, the actions that CICCIA has been carrying out are fundamental for the successive decreases of the rate of deforestation in the Amazon.
The bill that will be sent to Congress will formalize the Environmental Protection Fund and will repeal the ordinance that establishes the Commission. If approved, the new law will enable CICCIA to continue its work of coordination between different ministries and institutions in the fight against deforestation.
Redes Sociais