EcoWorldly

The World Bank approved a loan to the Brazilian government for the improvement of environmental management programs.

Focus areas for the programs are forests, water conservation, and energy efficiency. (Climate change will be addressed with an integrated approach that includes all aspects of the programs.) For example, destruction of the Amazon rainforest causes biodiversity loss and contributes to climate change, so decreasing deforestation protects biodiversity and prevents additional global warming.

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Brazil’s Minister of Finance, Guido Mantegna described the holistic approach, “This requires a commitment from all levels of government, whether federal, state or municipal, paying special attention to social programs, many of which include programs for sustainable growth”.

Brazil is the home to 60% of the Amazon, which is one third of the world’s tropical rainforests (the richest biological areas in the world).  Scientists have identified between 96,000 and 128,000 species of invertebrates in Brazil so far. Currently it is thought that 1 in 5 of all the world’s known birds live in the Amazon rainforest. Brazil also contains most of the Pantanal, the largest wetlands area in the world. It is thought at least 1,000 species of birds live there.

There are very likely far more species to identify in Brazil, but if the habitat is destroyed the unknown unique species could be extinguished permanently. About 500,000 square kilometers of the rainforest have already been destroyed when converted to pasture land for raising cows, or for soy bean fields. In 2005 the Amazon rainforest experienced an unusually severe drought which led some scientists to conceive that drought combined with all the deforestation could lead to the beginning of the death of the entire ecosystem.

In energy and transportation, Brazil has been forward-looking with its development
and use of ethanol. With its abundant sugar cane, the country has been using ethanol for transporation for over thirty years. Since 1976 the government has required all vehicles to use a blend of ethanol and gasoline. Many Brazilian cars today are flex fuel vehicles. They are manufactured to run on a blend of ethanol and gasoline. Some of them can run on pure ethanol. In 2008 87% of new vehicles sold were flex fuel. In 2009 flex fuel motorcyles are expected to hit the roads.

Some environmental activists have been concerned that large loans from the World Bank could be spent almost entirely on damming rivers for hydropower, which can damage the environment. Spending money almost entirely on such infrastructure projects could leave too little for biological conservation and community education.

Image Credit, Fernando S. Aldado, Public Domain

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