Greenpeace temporarily blocked a freighter from being loaded at a northern Brazilian port in protest over a partial presidential veto of a land-use bill seen as harming the Amazon
The environmental group said on its website on Saturday that activists ferried by its Rainbow Warrior vessel occupied a giant pile of pig iron on the dock while another team scaled two cranes to stop them from loading the raw material of iron and steel onto the US-bound Clipper Hope.
The activists then unfurled banners proclaiming “Amazon Crime” and “Dilma’s dirty secret,” in protest at President Dilma Rousseff’s partial veto Friday of 12 controversial articles of the new code regulating the use of land on rural properties.
“The Amazon turns to Charcoal, Brazil Stop the Chainsaw,” said a huge banner tied to a crane by the activists.
Pig iron requires large amounts of charcoal to be produced and this often comes from rainforest trees logged from indigenous lands.
But they suspended the protest eight hours later after the deputy governor of Maranhao state, Washington Luiz de Oliveira, intervened and promised to facilitate talks with the pig iron industry.
A meeting was set for Monday between Greenpeace and industry representatives, Maranhao state officials, the national Bar Association and cargo shipment owner Viena.
Veto parcial mantém florestas brasileiras sob risco
O Comitê Brasil em Defesa das Florestas assistiu nesta sexta (25) com grave preocupação o anúncio da sanção parcial do projeto de Código Florestal aprovado no Congresso, o que frustrou a expectativa de ampla maioria da população pelo veto integral. conteúdo das medidas não foi divulgado oficialmente, denotando total falta de transparência. Preocupa-nos ainda, além do conteúdo anunciado, o desdobramento do processo por meio de Medida Provisória. A anistia segue como eixo central do texto, visto que, a data de 2008 como linha de corte para manutenção de áreas desmatadas ilegalmente continua inalterada e, consequentemente, promove a isenção de recuperação de Áreas de Proteção Permanente (APP) e Reserva Legal. As flexibilizações em relação a lei atual podem ser ainda ampliadas, pois a matéria e os pontos modificados serão devolvidos ao Congresso. A sanção parcial pela presidente Dilma reforça a necessidade de ampliar a mobilização, que será intensificada na Rio+20. A campanha “Veta Tudo, Dilma!”, que se tornou um fenômeno social no Brasil, seguramente continuará, pois a sanção parcial não encerra a vontade dos brasileiros de construir um Código Florestal que concilie conservação e produção. http://centrodeestudosambientais.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/veto-parcial-mantem-florestas-brasileiras-sob-risco/
The modified forestry policy bill, which is pending ratification from Congress, maintains a requirement to protect 80 percent of the forest in rural areas of the Amazon and 35 percent of the sertao, or arid hinterland of northeastern Brazil.
But it eases restrictions for small landowners who face difficulties in recovering illegally cleared land.
The reform of the 1965 forestry law approved by Congress a month ago had been seen as a victory for a powerful agri-business lobby after years of feuding with environmentalists alarmed at the risk of further deforestation in the Amazon.
Environmentalists who had pushed for a full veto have slammed Rousseff’s move.
Greenpeace has linked the pig iron industry to slave labor and forest destruction in the Amazon.
“In the wake of Dilma’s failure we are taking action and demanding action from the Brazilian government,” Greenpeace said.
It called on Rousseff to “redeem herself by supporting the 80 percent of Brazilians who opposed the changes in the Forest Code.”
Related articles
- Dilma vetoes bits of Amazon Law (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
- Greenpeace blocks Brazil port over Amazon law (rawstory.com)
- Brazil’s loggers lobby may prove destructive (thehindu.com)
Many of the sites were bubbling methane that has been stored for millenniaScientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane that has been stored for many millennia is bubbling into the atmosphere. 
