Swedish tycoon's firm fined for destroying Amazon rainforest

Rio de Janeiro, June 8 (IANS) Brazilian authorities have slapped a fine of $234 million on a company owned by Swedish tycoon Johan Eliasch for illegally felling 230,000 trees in the Amazon rainforest, Spain's EFE news agency reported Sunday.

London-based Eliasch is being investigated in Brazil by the Abin state intelligence agency for allegedly illegally buying large swathes of the rainforest and grassland in order to commercially exploit it through a company known as Gethal Amazonas S.A., the news agency quoted officials as saying.

Eliasch has also been accused of owning the property without valid certification, Brazil's official Agencia Brasil news agency reported.

The fine levied Saturday by environmental agency Ibama was for illegal "extraction, transport and sale" of close to 700,000 cubic meters of lumber equivalent to 230,000 trees.

Gethal Amazonas has been given 20 days to appeal the fine, Ibama said.

Brazil's agrarian reform body, or Incra, has registered 33,000 properties acquired by foreigners covering a total of 5.5 million hectares in the Amazon.

The announcement of the fine comes as the Brazilian government is seeking to reaffirm its commitment to protecting the rainforest.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration has come under fire by environmentalists following the release of official statistics showing that deforestation of the Amazon has been accelerating.

The Amazon rainforest in the northern part of South America is the biggest forest in the world and is also the last big space covered with tropical plants and animals.

It is shared by nine countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana and Guiana.

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Army brought in to help illegal Amazon timber crackdown

Stung by the recent rise in deforestation rates in the Amazon, the Brazilian government is cracking down on the illegal loggers who are ripping up the rainforest; their year-long initiative - known as Operation Fire Belt - is targeting areas where deforestation has been most acute.

Hundreds of police and environmental officials are being backed up by army troops to enforce national forest laws which are being flouted by loggers and landowners. Around 300 agents have been sent to just one town, Tailandia, to inspect the local sawmills; of around 100 mills operating there, only 21 have the correct licences.

If sending the army in seems heavy-handed, bear in mind what happened in Tailandia last week when rioting sawmill workers chased inspectors from Brazils' environment protection agency out of town. The International Herald Tribune reports that sawmill owners threatened to fire anyone who talked to the inspectors, provoking the hostile reaction.

So hence the military back-up and there's no doubt these inspections need to be carried out. Before they were forced to flee from the angry mob, the team checked 10 mills and seized 13,000m3 of illegal timber (enough to fill 640 trucks) in the process.

Just how far the government can enforce this crackdown remains to be seen, but campaigners in our Brazilian office are keeping up the pressure, describing this as a chance for the administration to show its commitment to protecting the rainforest and enforcing its own laws. The Brazilian media is also on their backs with inch after column inch devoted to coverage of the operation, and Amazon deforestation has been constantly hitting the headlines for over a month.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/army-brought-in-to-help-illegal-amazon-timber-crackdown-20080229

Brazil police, troops resume crackdown on illegal Amazon logging

Brazilian authorities are resuming their crackdown on illegal logging in the Amazon

Hundreds of federal police and military troops returned to a town (Tailandia) in the eastern part of the region haul out stacks of illegally cut hardwood.

At least 2,000 townspeople and sawmill workers rioted against the crackdown last week. They burned tires, blocked roads and forced federal environmental officials to flee the area, according to Brazilian newspaper accounts.

Before the unrest, 130 environmental inspectors had audited 10 of the towns estimated 140 sawmills. The environmental agency says if fined seven for stocking lumber of unknown origin and selling lumber without authorization.

The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest. Official data showing an unexpected surge in deforestation late last year prompted Brazil's president to launch the crackdown.

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Illegal loggers rally against Brazilian police crackdown

A mob of 2-thousand people in the Brazilian state of Para on Wednesday, burned tires, blocked roads and attacked federal agents who sought to crack down on illegal logging in the worlds largest Amazonian rainforest state, but officials vowed that riots would not halt law enforcement.

In the town of Tailandia, Brazil's environmental protection agency abandoned efforts to audit logging companies and sawmills suspected of illegal logging, after angry mobs surrounded its workers and tried to invade one of the sawmills in a public revolt, the agency said on its website.

Four people were arrested and dozens injured when protestors working at the illegal facilities attacked the environment agents.

Protestors blocked the main highway connecting the wood-cutting facilities to the city, by setting fires, sending large plumes of black smoke into the air.

Younger protesters and riot police were seen exchanging rocks and tear gas in clashes that lasted around ten hours.

Despite opposition, Brazilian authorities pledged to resume its so-called "Guardians of the Amazon" crackdown on the illegal logging in the world's biggest rain forest, environmental officials said.

"We must work intelligently and legally, and we are willing to negotiate with people not with bandits," Marina Silva, Brazil's Environment Minister said.

Authorities warned they would not hesitate in tackling the issue by force.

"We will send military forces to the Amazon if necessary. But, we will allow the federal police to handle this in the first place," Tarso Genro, Brazilian Justice Minister said.

The crackdown began last week, when 130 environmental workers began inspecting Tailandia's estimated 140 sawmills.

Of 10 mills audited, five were fined for stocking lumber of unknown origin and for selling lumber without authorisation, the environmental agency said.

It seized 13-thousand cubic meters (17,003 cubic yards) of illegal lumber, including top Brazilian hardwoods- enough to fill 640 trucks, the agency said.

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