Twenty years ago, a Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper was shot to death at his home in Acre State by ranchers opposed to his efforts to save the Amazon rain forest.
After his death at age 44, Francisco Alves Mendes, better known as Chico, became a martyr for a concept that is only now gaining mainstream support here: that the value of a standing forest could be more than the value of a forest burned and logged in the name of development.
This month, Brazil took what environmentalists hope will be a big step forward in realizing Mr. Mendes’s vision. The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva introduced ambitious targets for reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions in a nation that is one of the world’s top emitters of this heat-trapping gas.
The plan promises to make Brazil a more influential player in global climate-change discussions, helping to push the United States and the European Union to agree to emissions cuts and head off the adverse effects of climate change. It could also encourage more pledges from wealthy countries seeking to essentially pay Brazil to preserve the forest for the good of all humanity.
But some environmentalists question whether the new targets, which would reduce Brazilian deforestation by 72 percent by 2017, are achievable in a country that has shown few signs of adjusting its development model as a major food provider to the world, especially in the midst of a global economic crisis.
To achieve the first phase of planned cuts, Brazil would have to reduce deforestation next year by 20 percent, to less than 4,000 square miles. That would be the lowest amount per year ever recorded in Brazil, said Paulo Adario, the Amazon campaign director for Greenpeace in Brazil.
Brazil’s economy is centered on the export of agricultural products, like soybeans and beef, and commodities like iron ore.
“The Brazilian model is to be the food supplier to the world and a big supplier of ethanol,” Mr. Adario said. “The economy will continue to move in the same basic direction. There is no magic in Brazil.”
Up until now, Brazil’s economic choices have driven much of the deforestation in the Amazon, he said. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, the military government encouraged landless families to settle in the region. Road-building, land speculators and ranchers followed, and the forests fell at a quickening pace.
The burning and decomposition of trees produce carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
Forest Plan in Brazil Bears the Traces of an Activist’s Vision
Mr. Mendes organized tappers to confront crews and flew abroad to confront lenders paying for roads. His efforts to stop logging in an area planned for a forest reserve led to his death. Since his killing, on Dec. 22, 1988, more than 20 reserves have been created, protecting more than eight million acres.
Mr. Mendes was an early advocate of the idea that people who live in the forest could create livelihoods from sustainable forest resources, rather than the one-time economic benefit of cutting down trees. Carbon financing, the compensation of forest dwellers for pursuing sustainable industries, would provide an added incentive, which is vital given the uncertain markets for natural rubber and other non-timber forest products.
“The notion that we in the north will help pay for that climate service is an important development and represents the mainstreaming of the concept that Chico Mendes and those like him were pioneers in creating,” said Richard H. Moss, the head of climate change programs at the World Wildlife Fund in Washington.
The killings of Mr. Mendes and of Sister Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old Catholic nun who was gunned down in 2005 for speaking out against logging in the Amazon, ratcheted up international pressure on Brazil to find ways to limit forest clearing without sacrificing development.
“Brazil was always on the defensive when it came to the question of climate change,” said Carlos Minc, Brazil’s environment minister. “And now it has completely changed, passing a bolder plan than India and China.”
Mr. Minc said the plan would help meet a demand of some of the more developed countries, including the United States, which has said it would not agree to firm emissions targets until less-developed countries that produce significant amounts of greenhouse gases do the same.
Deforestation produces more than a fifth of human-generated carbon dioxide by some estimates. Some 75 percent of Brazil’s carbon dioxide emissions come from deforestation, Mr. Minc said.
Brazil’s plan would sharply slice those emissions, reducing them by some 4.8 billion tons by 2018. Some environmentalists contend that deals involving compensation for forest protection could weaken climate agreements in many ways. They also say the plan leaves the most difficult targets to the government that will follow Mr. da Silva’s. His term ends in 2010.
Still, it is viewed by some scientists and climate experts as major step forward. “For the first time we have out in the open very clear goals for reduction in deforestation,” said Walter Vergara, the lead climatologist for Latin America at the World Bank.
The global recession could end up being a godsend by lowering demand for agricultural goods.
But it could also slow the flow of technology needed to make industries more efficient and limit pledges from foreign governments like Norway, Sweden and Germany, whose payments would help preserve the forest. So far, those countries have not suggested that they would reduce their contributions, Mr. Minc said.
“The global recession and the climate crisis don’t necessarily have to be adversaries, with one competing for the resources of the other,” Mr. Minc said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/world/americas/22brazil.html
rainforestpower Headline Animator
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
As Amazon Rainforest Destruction Continues, Brazil Pledges Drastic Action
Amazon deforestationIn the wake of a distressing report about accelerating deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian government has vowed to reduce the rate of land-clearing by 70 percent over the next decade. The government was called upon to take drastic steps after a report declared that deforestation increased this year for the first time since 2004 as surging prices for cattle and soybeans led ranchers to seek farm land in the forest. The world’s largest rainforest lost 11,968 square kilometers (4,600 square miles), an area about 10 times as large as New York City, in the 12 months through July 2008 [Bloomberg].
Tasso Azevedo, head of the Brazilian government’s forestry service said: “We can now adopt targets because we now have the instruments to implement them.” He was referring to a new Amazon fund, where foreign nations are being encouraged by Brazil to contribute financially to the conservation of the vast Amazon region [BBC News]. Norway has already agreed to contribute $1 billion to the fund over the next seven years on the condition that deforestation rates continue to drop during that time; however, Norway’s pledge is hoped to be just the beginning. The Brazilian government wants to raise $21 billion in donations to finance conservation and sustainable development projects, arguing that since the whole world receives climate benefits from an intact Amazon rainforest, the whole world should subsidize it.
The Brazilian government maintains that the figures for 2008 would have been still worse without its new crackdown on illegal logging and land clearing, and points to its policy of confiscating soy and beef products from rogue ranchers as proof that the government takes the issue quite seriously. But critics say the environmental protection agency, IBAMA, is understaffed and underfunded to face thousands of often heavily armed loggers and ranchers…. Last week a crowd in Paragominas, a town that depends heavily on logging, ransacked IBAMA offices, torched its garage and used a tractor to break down the entrance of the hotel where its agents stayed. Twelve trucks loaded with confiscated wood were stolen [New Scientist].
Brazil’s announcement of the new conservation targets coincides with the opening of a United Nations conference on global warming. Amazon destruction makes Brazil one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases because trees release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they’re cut down or burned [Reuters]. If the rainforest remains intact, however, the ecosystem can serve as a valuable “carbon sink” that can take up and sequester carbon dioxide emissions from the rest of the world.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/02/as-amazon-rainforest-destruction-continues-brazil-pledges-drastic-action/
Tasso Azevedo, head of the Brazilian government’s forestry service said: “We can now adopt targets because we now have the instruments to implement them.” He was referring to a new Amazon fund, where foreign nations are being encouraged by Brazil to contribute financially to the conservation of the vast Amazon region [BBC News]. Norway has already agreed to contribute $1 billion to the fund over the next seven years on the condition that deforestation rates continue to drop during that time; however, Norway’s pledge is hoped to be just the beginning. The Brazilian government wants to raise $21 billion in donations to finance conservation and sustainable development projects, arguing that since the whole world receives climate benefits from an intact Amazon rainforest, the whole world should subsidize it.
The Brazilian government maintains that the figures for 2008 would have been still worse without its new crackdown on illegal logging and land clearing, and points to its policy of confiscating soy and beef products from rogue ranchers as proof that the government takes the issue quite seriously. But critics say the environmental protection agency, IBAMA, is understaffed and underfunded to face thousands of often heavily armed loggers and ranchers…. Last week a crowd in Paragominas, a town that depends heavily on logging, ransacked IBAMA offices, torched its garage and used a tractor to break down the entrance of the hotel where its agents stayed. Twelve trucks loaded with confiscated wood were stolen [New Scientist].
Brazil’s announcement of the new conservation targets coincides with the opening of a United Nations conference on global warming. Amazon destruction makes Brazil one of the top emitters of greenhouse gases because trees release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when they’re cut down or burned [Reuters]. If the rainforest remains intact, however, the ecosystem can serve as a valuable “carbon sink” that can take up and sequester carbon dioxide emissions from the rest of the world.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/12/02/as-amazon-rainforest-destruction-continues-brazil-pledges-drastic-action/
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Hackers Responsible for Rainforest Destruction
By illegally securing transport permits for logging companies
Greenpeace announced that over 200 people and 100 logging and charcoal companies faced prosecution in Brazil for their involvement in a large-scale fraud case. The companies allegedly contracted hacking groups that broke into the government's network and altered the records in order to allow for excessive deforestation.
In their attempt to regulate deforestation, authorities from the Brazilian state of Pará introduced an online timber transport tracking system a few years ago. The idea behind the project is to control the amount of timber that can be legally transported out of the state by each company. If a company reaches its maximum allowed quota, the state stops issuing transport permits for it.
When this system was first introduced, a lot of experts and environmental groups warned that it was exposed to possible fraud in multiple ways and unfortunately their fears came true when, in April 2007, the local police started investigating hacking activity that targeted the online system. Their efforts concluded that hackers had penetrated the network and altered records in order to authorize multiple companies to secure more transport permits than allowed. The fraud was estimated at over $830 million.
The investigators initially arrested 30 individuals suspected of orchestrating the scam, but the current list of involved parties amounts to 202 people and 107 companies. "Almost half of the companies involved in this scam have other law suits pending for environmental crimes or the use of slave labour, amongst other things,” pointed out Federal Prosecutor Daniel Avelino.
"By hacking into the permit system, these companies have made their timber shipments appear legal and compliant with the forest management plans,” Greenpeace campaigner André Muggiati, explained how the scheme worked. “And this is only the tip of the iceberg, because the same computer system is also used in two other Brazilian states," he added.
Greenpeace warns that the Brazilian government is not only having problems regulating the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, but it actually plans to increase it by allowing every land owner to cut down trees from as much as 50 percent of their property. This means more than double of what the current law allows.
Much like Russia, China and Ukraine, Brazil is also the home of a large number of organized cyber-criminal groups that operate at global level, and which the country's government generally fails to dismantle and prosecute.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hackers-Responsible-for-Rainforest-Destruction-99999.shtml
Greenpeace announced that over 200 people and 100 logging and charcoal companies faced prosecution in Brazil for their involvement in a large-scale fraud case. The companies allegedly contracted hacking groups that broke into the government's network and altered the records in order to allow for excessive deforestation.
In their attempt to regulate deforestation, authorities from the Brazilian state of Pará introduced an online timber transport tracking system a few years ago. The idea behind the project is to control the amount of timber that can be legally transported out of the state by each company. If a company reaches its maximum allowed quota, the state stops issuing transport permits for it.
When this system was first introduced, a lot of experts and environmental groups warned that it was exposed to possible fraud in multiple ways and unfortunately their fears came true when, in April 2007, the local police started investigating hacking activity that targeted the online system. Their efforts concluded that hackers had penetrated the network and altered records in order to authorize multiple companies to secure more transport permits than allowed. The fraud was estimated at over $830 million.
The investigators initially arrested 30 individuals suspected of orchestrating the scam, but the current list of involved parties amounts to 202 people and 107 companies. "Almost half of the companies involved in this scam have other law suits pending for environmental crimes or the use of slave labour, amongst other things,” pointed out Federal Prosecutor Daniel Avelino.
"By hacking into the permit system, these companies have made their timber shipments appear legal and compliant with the forest management plans,” Greenpeace campaigner André Muggiati, explained how the scheme worked. “And this is only the tip of the iceberg, because the same computer system is also used in two other Brazilian states," he added.
Greenpeace warns that the Brazilian government is not only having problems regulating the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, but it actually plans to increase it by allowing every land owner to cut down trees from as much as 50 percent of their property. This means more than double of what the current law allows.
Much like Russia, China and Ukraine, Brazil is also the home of a large number of organized cyber-criminal groups that operate at global level, and which the country's government generally fails to dismantle and prosecute.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Hackers-Responsible-for-Rainforest-Destruction-99999.shtml
Monday, December 8, 2008
Acai berry - a tonic for energy
Acai - lots of energy
The acai berry is turning heads in the health industry. It provides nutrients that are improving energy and performance in all aspects of life.
These nutrients support the metabolism of our bodies. If you have been deficient in them you know one of the reasons for depression, lack of concentration and generally low levels of energy.
One of the most important ingredients in the acai berry are the omega 3 fatty acids. They are crucial for proper mental function and alertness.
The rich variety of antioxidants protect the cells from free radical damage and allow proper cellular metabolism and energy production.
We encourage you to learn more about the secrets contained in the acai berry. It is not new, it is just new to the Western world. Indigenous people in the Amazon have used it as a staple food down through the ages. When other foods were scarce they could survive on it for long periods of time without any sign of malnutrition.
http://www.fundednfree.com/acaiberry.html
The acai berry is turning heads in the health industry. It provides nutrients that are improving energy and performance in all aspects of life.
These nutrients support the metabolism of our bodies. If you have been deficient in them you know one of the reasons for depression, lack of concentration and generally low levels of energy.
One of the most important ingredients in the acai berry are the omega 3 fatty acids. They are crucial for proper mental function and alertness.
The rich variety of antioxidants protect the cells from free radical damage and allow proper cellular metabolism and energy production.
We encourage you to learn more about the secrets contained in the acai berry. It is not new, it is just new to the Western world. Indigenous people in the Amazon have used it as a staple food down through the ages. When other foods were scarce they could survive on it for long periods of time without any sign of malnutrition.
http://www.fundednfree.com/acaiberry.html
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Brazil's Decision on Deforestation Draws Praise
Brazil's decision to set a target for reducing deforestation by 70 percent over the next decade to combat climate change was hailed by environmentalists Friday as a significant goal for a major polluting country.
"This is an enormously important step," Stephan Schwartzman, an Amazon expert with the Environmental Defense Fund, said by telephone from a climate change conference in Poland. "This is the first time that a major developing country, whose greenhouse gas emissions are a substantial part of the problem, has stepped up and made a commitment to bring down its total emissions. Brazil has set the standard. Now we want to see the U.S. and President Obama come up to it."
The clear-cutting and burning of the Amazon rain forest for cattle and soybean ranches, roads and settlements makes up one of the world's largest sources of the types of gases that contribute to global warming. Since reaching a recent peak of 10,588 square miles of forest destroyed in the Amazon in 2004, deforestation dropped for the next three years, before rising slightly this year to 4,621 square miles, according to data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, which monitors deforestation.
Brazil is one of the world's top four emitters of greenhouse gases, with China, the United States and Indonesia. The destruction of the world's rain forest accounts for about 20 percent of annual greenhouse gas pollution, of which Brazil makes up 40 percent, Schwartzman said.
Brazil's plan, announced this week and detailed Friday by Environment Minister Carlos Minc, calls for reducing the annual rate of deforestation to 1,900 square miles by 2017, down from 7,300 square miles, which has been the average rate of deforestation over a recent 10-year period. Minc said reaching this target would prevent 4.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere, more than the combined commitment of industrialized countries under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
"Climate change is one of the issues that most worries our civilization these days," Minc said. "Many people used to say it was just the delirium of environmentalists, but after they started to see ice melting on their TVs, they changed their minds."
Under Minc's predecessor, Marina Silva, Brazil set aside millions of acres of forest as protected areas. But in practice, it has been difficult to protect the vast, sparsely populated areas because of pressure from farmers and ranchers, corruption, illegal clearing and a lack of economic incentives.
Ana Cristina Barros, the Brazilian representative for the Nature Conservancy, called the new deforestation target a "time for celebration."
"It is possible for the government to control the Amazon frontier," she said. "It doesn't mean we have to prevent agriculture; we just need to control it."
Minc said he would create an environmental police force of 3,000 people to protect national parks and target illegal loggers. But he said deforestation cannot be solved by police action alone and requires economic incentives for farmers and other residents of the Amazon.
Farmers were encouraged that the government's plan included a program to pay those who preserve forest on their property, said Marcelo Duarte Monteiro, executive director of an association of soybean farmers in the western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. There are 62 million acres of cattle farms in the state, he said, and some of this land can be converted for soybean and other agricultural products.
"From our perspective, we are going to be looking at conversion, from pasture into cropland. That, in our opinion, is the way we should be going," he said. "On the other hand, we think it's fair to think of economic incentives for farmers who have forest and are delivering these environmental services, of carbon, of biodiversity, for free. And then everybody's going to be happy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120503325.html
"This is an enormously important step," Stephan Schwartzman, an Amazon expert with the Environmental Defense Fund, said by telephone from a climate change conference in Poland. "This is the first time that a major developing country, whose greenhouse gas emissions are a substantial part of the problem, has stepped up and made a commitment to bring down its total emissions. Brazil has set the standard. Now we want to see the U.S. and President Obama come up to it."
The clear-cutting and burning of the Amazon rain forest for cattle and soybean ranches, roads and settlements makes up one of the world's largest sources of the types of gases that contribute to global warming. Since reaching a recent peak of 10,588 square miles of forest destroyed in the Amazon in 2004, deforestation dropped for the next three years, before rising slightly this year to 4,621 square miles, according to data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research, which monitors deforestation.
Brazil is one of the world's top four emitters of greenhouse gases, with China, the United States and Indonesia. The destruction of the world's rain forest accounts for about 20 percent of annual greenhouse gas pollution, of which Brazil makes up 40 percent, Schwartzman said.
Brazil's plan, announced this week and detailed Friday by Environment Minister Carlos Minc, calls for reducing the annual rate of deforestation to 1,900 square miles by 2017, down from 7,300 square miles, which has been the average rate of deforestation over a recent 10-year period. Minc said reaching this target would prevent 4.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide from being pumped into the atmosphere, more than the combined commitment of industrialized countries under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
"Climate change is one of the issues that most worries our civilization these days," Minc said. "Many people used to say it was just the delirium of environmentalists, but after they started to see ice melting on their TVs, they changed their minds."
Under Minc's predecessor, Marina Silva, Brazil set aside millions of acres of forest as protected areas. But in practice, it has been difficult to protect the vast, sparsely populated areas because of pressure from farmers and ranchers, corruption, illegal clearing and a lack of economic incentives.
Ana Cristina Barros, the Brazilian representative for the Nature Conservancy, called the new deforestation target a "time for celebration."
"It is possible for the government to control the Amazon frontier," she said. "It doesn't mean we have to prevent agriculture; we just need to control it."
Minc said he would create an environmental police force of 3,000 people to protect national parks and target illegal loggers. But he said deforestation cannot be solved by police action alone and requires economic incentives for farmers and other residents of the Amazon.
Farmers were encouraged that the government's plan included a program to pay those who preserve forest on their property, said Marcelo Duarte Monteiro, executive director of an association of soybean farmers in the western Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. There are 62 million acres of cattle farms in the state, he said, and some of this land can be converted for soybean and other agricultural products.
"From our perspective, we are going to be looking at conversion, from pasture into cropland. That, in our opinion, is the way we should be going," he said. "On the other hand, we think it's fair to think of economic incentives for farmers who have forest and are delivering these environmental services, of carbon, of biodiversity, for free. And then everybody's going to be happy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/05/AR2008120503325.html
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Sambazon Announces Private Equity Funding from Verlinvest
New Investment Will Support Future Growth as Sambazon Expands Distribution Across the U.S.A
Sambazon ( www.sambazon.com), the pioneer and global market leader in acai food and beverages, announced today the initial closing of its largest round of funding to date from lead investor, Verlinvest.
Verlinvest, a Belgian based private equity group, pledges to support the Company's exponential growth within the organic food and beverage categories. Sambazon will use the investment to expand distribution and marketing efforts for its premium acai product lines.
"We are very excited about this new partnership. Verlinvest's knowledge and relationships in the beverage industry are unparalleled and will add tremendous value to growing our distribution," said Ryan Black, CEO, Sambazon. "Verlinvest's international experience in building iconic brands also makes them the ideal strategic partner as we execute our growth plan."
Since its founding in 2000, Sambazon has continued to raise the industry standard with quality organic acai products. They created the first vertically integrated supply chain for the acai berry and are internationally recognized as a "green" business leader. Guided by the Triple Bottom Line principles, which incorporate environmental, social and economic success, Sambazon pioneered a sustainable business model in the Amazon Rainforest and created worldwide awareness of acai. Today, Sambazon products are found in over ten thousand supermarkets, health food stores and juice bars.
"Sambazon is the hottest up and coming brand in the beverage space, with dynamic products and a supply chain to reach significant scale," says Frederic de Mevius, Verlinvest's Managing Director. "They have outperformed competitors in the beverage, frozen and supplement categories and as consumers continue to look for organic, functional and nutrition rich food and beverages, Sambazon's future is prospected to be very bright."
Partnership Capital Growth, a San Francisco based investment bank, is advising the transaction exclusively. Verlinvest is the lead investor with participation by Bradmer
Foods and RSF Social Finance.
About Sambazon
Sambazon is the global leader in acai - a deliciously nutritious purple berry from the Amazon Rainforest. Sambazon's product portfolio of Organic acai beverages, frozen products and supplements are available at thousands of retailers including Whole Foods Market, Jamba Juice, Kroger and Publix. In 2006, Condoleezza Rice named Sambazon winner of the "ACE Award for Corporate Excellence" for helping to create worldwide awareness and demand for the acai fruit while supporting local indigenous communities in Brazil through a unique market driven conservation business model. www.sambazon.com
About Verlinvest S.A.
Verlinvest is a Belgian private equity firm specializing in diversifying family holdings through equity and debt instruments. The firm typically invests in entrepreneurs, family businesses, multinationals in the branded consumer goods and services industry with a focus on alcoholic (spirits), healthy non-alcoholic beverages, fashion, cosmetics and well being services. www.verlinvest.be
About Partnership Capital Growth Advisors
PCGA is a FINRA/SIPC-licensed broker dealer providing full-service financing and capital structure advisory services to middle market companies, focusing exclusively on consumer products and services for healthy, active and sustainable living. www.pcg-advisors.com
SOURCE Sambazon
http://www.sambazon.com
One River
The prodigious biological and cultural riches of the vast Amazon rain forest are being lost at a horrendous rate, according to the author, often without yielding their secrets to the Western world.
During his years in the South American jungle, ethnobotanist Davis (The Serpent and the Rainbow) has done much to preserve some of these treasures. He tells two entwined tales here - his own explorations in the '70s and those of his mentor, the great Harvard ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, beginning in the '30s.
Both men have been particularly interested in the psychoactive and medicinal properties of the plants of the Amazon basin and approach their subject with a reverence for the cultural context in which the plants are used.
The contrasting experiences of two explorers, a mere generation apart, starkly demonstrates how much has already been destroyed in the rain forest. Although Schultes probably knew more about Amazonian plants than any Western scientist, he was constantly learning of new ones and new uses for them from native experts.
Davis graphically describes the brutal clash of cultures from Columbian times to the present, often so devastating for indigenous peoples, that has defined this region.
At times humorous, at times depressing, this is a consistently enlightening and thought-provoking study.
http://www.excitingbrazil.com/theamazonriver.html
Out of Amazonia
Manaus forms an exotic backdrop to a bitter tale. By Maya Jaggi
Milton Hatoum's early novels drew on his upbringing in the Brazilian melting-pot of Manaus, the rainforest river port legendary for its floating markets and extravagant opera house. Tale of a Certain Orient and The Brothers, explored the past of a city at the confluence of rivers and cultures that had lured workers and traders since the rubber boom of the 1880s - including Hatoum's Lebanese Arab forebears, who exchanged the Mediterranean for the Amazon. The Brothers, translated from the Portuguese in 2002, confirmed Hatoum as one of South America's leading contemporary novelists.
The entwined families of Ashes of the Amazon have no ties to the Levant, though their conflicts recall the archetypal rivalries of the earlier books. This novel alludes more directly to Hatoum's childhood years in its main setting of Manaus during Brazil's military dictatorship of 1964-85. Through a tale of two schoolfriends caught between vying adult mentors and tormentors, it evokes a bitterly fraught era of creativity and collusion, of rebellion, exile and defeat.
The main narrator is the orphan Lavo, brought up by his aunt Ramira, with desultory interventions from her brother Ranulfo, a one-time radio presenter sacked by the church-run station for obscenity, now dedicated to lying in a hammock. Lavo's friend Mundo is an aspiring artist whose tycoon father Jano inherited a steamship fortune from his Portuguese immigrant father. Mundo's beautiful mother Alícia, the daughter of an Amazonian Indian mother, is a compulsive drinker, gambler and shopper.
More convoluted bonds between the friends' families emerge, as Lavo learns that Ranulfo and Alícia were lovers, though Alícia chose to marry wealth, and Ranulfo to console himself by wedding Alícia's sister Algisa. This intricate web of jealousy and sibling rivalry is compounded by Jano's preference for sensible Lavo over his rebellious son Mundo, and Ranulfo's fondness for Alícia's child Mundo - who, it is hinted, may be Ranulfo's son.
The two boys meet in 1964, as school resumes after the military coup, in an atmosphere of brutality and bullying that echoes the rise of the army rulers. These include Colonel Zanda, busily deforming the landscape with a "crazed mania for modernisation" that delivers an urban slum named the New Eldorado. As Lavo opts to study law, Ranulfo objects: "All this law for nothing. The military have chucked all these laws in the bin."
Mundo's art, like Ranulfo's indolence, is a form of revolt, as his father sends him to military school to break him - and ensure that he is not "queer". Mundo finds inspiration in Amerindian art, and also - in an allusion to the Tropicalia movement, named after Hélio Oiticica's tropical-shack installation - in a Rio gallery with a "strange work of art: people went into a tent, put on a plastic cape full of folds and began gyrating and shouting, trying to free themselves of a lot of things".
Central to the novel is an invigoratingly astringent satire of the artist as fraud and sell-out. The studio of Alduíno Arana, a would-be mentor to Mundo, becomes the factory of a "vulgar salesman". From collages of beheaded fish smeared with red paint, he depicts macaws and sunsets. As Ranulfo scoffs: "He must have been overwhelmed by the grandeur of our natural surroundings." Whereas Mundo sketches faces in a Rio favela, Arana mimics Amerindians' art or incorporates their very bones in his installations, claiming they have washed up from collapsed tombs. Others suspect him of exhuming corpses. His "grotesque, hallucinatory vision" of the forest adorns the high-rise offices of construction companies, a cynicism prefigured by his taste for deflowering young girls, "fresh from upriver". Later exiled in Berlin and Brixton - at whose mini-markets he delights in mementos of Africa and the Amazon in okra and watermelons - Mundo realises that Arana had sought to inject him with the poisonous idea of "an 'authentic, pure Amazonian art', but . . . nothing is pure, authentic or original."
Both rebels are beaten. Ranulfo is scarred by "thugs or police", while Mundo's defiant installation - a row of burnt crosses at the ugly new town - is razed, and his father takes revenge. "It seemed as if a whole epoch had lain down and died." Yet as conflicts over the boys' future mirror contests for the soul of the country, for Mundo "there is always the revenge of the imagination, the revenge of the artist". When the military regime eventually falters, his paintings of decomposition and despair will outlive him.
Though extending into exile, the novel remains rooted in a tropical Manaus of floating bars, neoclassical mansions and shanties built out over the water. It is partly a sense of waste and destruction that gives this novel its bitterness. Yet the defeat of a generation, and its ultimate moral transcendence, also lends it an epic breadth.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/nov/15/ashes-of-the-amazon-milton-hatoum
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Brazil announces plan to slash rainforest destruction
The Brazilian government yesterday announced a 10-year plan to slash rainforest destruction by 70% days after new figures showed Amazon deforestation was again on the rise.
Officials said the targets, which are part of Brazil's Climate Change Plan, were the first time the Brazilian government had set specific goals for deforestation reduction.
The plan outlines a 40% reduction of deforestation until 2009, a 30% reduction between 2010 and 2013 and a further 30% cut between 2014 and 2017.
"The target is that in 2017 deforestation will be [reduced to] 5,000 sq km," environment minister Carlos Minc told reporters in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
He said the slowdown in deforestation would mean a 72% reduction in climate changing carbon emissions. That, he added, "is an even more daring target than in England which aims for an 80% reduction but [not] until 2050."
The blueprint for deforestation reduction makes it clear that hitting the targets depends on Brazil's ability to raise funds for its fight against the loggers.
In August 2008 Brazil's government created the Amazon Fund, a mechanism for foreign governments to help pay for the protection of the world's largest tropical rainforest and combat global warming. In September Norway's government became the first to contribute to the fund, pledging $1bn (£668m).
Mr Minc said he hoped for donations of $1bn a year, in order to bankroll Brazil's campaign against deforestation.
The plans follow the release of government figures on Friday showing that deforestation rose 3.8% in the year leading up to July 2008 – the first annual increase in three years.
Satellite images captured by Brazil's Space Research Institute, Inpe, showed that 11,968 sq km of forest were cleared until July this year, up from 11,532 sq km the previous year.
Mr Minc said the rise would have been even greater had it not been for an anti-deforestation drive launched at the start of 2008. Deforestation levels had fallen in the 36 regions that suffered most deforestation in 2007 as a result of the crackdown, he said.
Known as the Arc of Fire, the crackdown has triggered violent uprisings in several Amazon towns where the economies, dependent on logging, have been badly hit.
Speaking to the Guardian earlier this year Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazil's minister for strategic affairs and the coordinator of its Amazon development plan, said his country needed to embark on a "revolutionary" project for the Amazon.
"We cannot preserve the Amazon without a project of development otherwise we are just playing with words," he said.
Without offering economic alternatives to logging it would be impossible to effectively combat illegal logging, he said.
"I have heard from a few foreigners the idea that the Brazilian state should actually transport the 27 million Brazilians out of the Amazon but our country is not governed by Stalin and we will not do that," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/02/forests-brazil
Officials said the targets, which are part of Brazil's Climate Change Plan, were the first time the Brazilian government had set specific goals for deforestation reduction.
The plan outlines a 40% reduction of deforestation until 2009, a 30% reduction between 2010 and 2013 and a further 30% cut between 2014 and 2017.
"The target is that in 2017 deforestation will be [reduced to] 5,000 sq km," environment minister Carlos Minc told reporters in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.
He said the slowdown in deforestation would mean a 72% reduction in climate changing carbon emissions. That, he added, "is an even more daring target than in England which aims for an 80% reduction but [not] until 2050."
The blueprint for deforestation reduction makes it clear that hitting the targets depends on Brazil's ability to raise funds for its fight against the loggers.
In August 2008 Brazil's government created the Amazon Fund, a mechanism for foreign governments to help pay for the protection of the world's largest tropical rainforest and combat global warming. In September Norway's government became the first to contribute to the fund, pledging $1bn (£668m).
Mr Minc said he hoped for donations of $1bn a year, in order to bankroll Brazil's campaign against deforestation.
The plans follow the release of government figures on Friday showing that deforestation rose 3.8% in the year leading up to July 2008 – the first annual increase in three years.
Satellite images captured by Brazil's Space Research Institute, Inpe, showed that 11,968 sq km of forest were cleared until July this year, up from 11,532 sq km the previous year.
Mr Minc said the rise would have been even greater had it not been for an anti-deforestation drive launched at the start of 2008. Deforestation levels had fallen in the 36 regions that suffered most deforestation in 2007 as a result of the crackdown, he said.
Known as the Arc of Fire, the crackdown has triggered violent uprisings in several Amazon towns where the economies, dependent on logging, have been badly hit.
Speaking to the Guardian earlier this year Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Brazil's minister for strategic affairs and the coordinator of its Amazon development plan, said his country needed to embark on a "revolutionary" project for the Amazon.
"We cannot preserve the Amazon without a project of development otherwise we are just playing with words," he said.
Without offering economic alternatives to logging it would be impossible to effectively combat illegal logging, he said.
"I have heard from a few foreigners the idea that the Brazilian state should actually transport the 27 million Brazilians out of the Amazon but our country is not governed by Stalin and we will not do that," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/dec/02/forests-brazil
Antioxidants of the Acai Berry
Of all the benefits of the Acai berry, the antioxidant properties are given the most attention. Perhaps that's because most of the health benefits offered by the Acai berry are related to its antioxidant properties. Being antioxidant means that the berry is capable of getting rid of harmful toxins in the body.
Toxins may cause injuries or diseases in the human body. They may come from our daily diet, or from the environment. Everyday, we are exposed to harmful toxins in the environment. Such toxins come from pesticides, mold, heavy metals, chloroform (found in washing agents) and other substances.
In addition, some of the food that we consume may contain their own toxins. For instance, we may be unaware of pesticide on vegetables, or harmful toxins from certain type of fish. Sometimes, symptoms such as dizziness and headaches result from consuming such harmful toxins.
Of course, if the condition is severe, always seek professional medical help immediately. However, sometimes toxins may just be building up in the body, with no visible symptoms showing. This may lead to lethargy and listlessness. The affected individual may also feel sleepy. This is because blood circulation is impeded by the harmful toxins. And when blood circulation slows down, the brain receives less oxygen. Hence, this leads to drowsiness and a persistent lack of energy.
For sure, this is harmful to the individual because without energy, all aspects of the individual's life is affected. For example, the individual may find it hard to complete his work, which in turn affects his professional life. Or he may find himself unwilling to go out to socialize, which in turn affects his social life.
Fortunately, by eating the right food, such problems can be totally avoided. Acai berries antioxidant capabilities have been widely promoted by the media. Many health experts have used the fruit to help improve the general health of those they are trying to help. Some even consumer Acai berries on a regular basis to help them lose weight.
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight know that they must exercise regularly to improve their metabolism rate. A higher metabolism rate means that the body is able to burn off excess fats automatically, which leads to loss of weight. Therefore, exercise is a must for any sustainable weight loss program. However, if an individual has a lot of harmful toxins in the body, which leads to energy loss, he may find himself unwilling to stick to a strict exercise program.
Even when taken without exercise, the Acai berry has the natural ability to help regulate cholesterol levels in the body. This helps with weight control.
When consumed regularly, the Acai berry helps to slow down the aging process, and may even help prevent cancer. No wonder thousands of health experts are heavily endorsing the Acai berry!
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/82764
Toxins may cause injuries or diseases in the human body. They may come from our daily diet, or from the environment. Everyday, we are exposed to harmful toxins in the environment. Such toxins come from pesticides, mold, heavy metals, chloroform (found in washing agents) and other substances.
In addition, some of the food that we consume may contain their own toxins. For instance, we may be unaware of pesticide on vegetables, or harmful toxins from certain type of fish. Sometimes, symptoms such as dizziness and headaches result from consuming such harmful toxins.
Of course, if the condition is severe, always seek professional medical help immediately. However, sometimes toxins may just be building up in the body, with no visible symptoms showing. This may lead to lethargy and listlessness. The affected individual may also feel sleepy. This is because blood circulation is impeded by the harmful toxins. And when blood circulation slows down, the brain receives less oxygen. Hence, this leads to drowsiness and a persistent lack of energy.
For sure, this is harmful to the individual because without energy, all aspects of the individual's life is affected. For example, the individual may find it hard to complete his work, which in turn affects his professional life. Or he may find himself unwilling to go out to socialize, which in turn affects his social life.
Fortunately, by eating the right food, such problems can be totally avoided. Acai berries antioxidant capabilities have been widely promoted by the media. Many health experts have used the fruit to help improve the general health of those they are trying to help. Some even consumer Acai berries on a regular basis to help them lose weight.
Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight know that they must exercise regularly to improve their metabolism rate. A higher metabolism rate means that the body is able to burn off excess fats automatically, which leads to loss of weight. Therefore, exercise is a must for any sustainable weight loss program. However, if an individual has a lot of harmful toxins in the body, which leads to energy loss, he may find himself unwilling to stick to a strict exercise program.
Even when taken without exercise, the Acai berry has the natural ability to help regulate cholesterol levels in the body. This helps with weight control.
When consumed regularly, the Acai berry helps to slow down the aging process, and may even help prevent cancer. No wonder thousands of health experts are heavily endorsing the Acai berry!
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/82764
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