What is the current Brazilian government doing about deforestation?
Brazil has sophisticated satellite technology which is regarded as the best in the world for tracking deforestation. Using two software systems known as Prodes and Deter, officials can view on their computers high resolutions of small sections of the Amazon based on a series of polygons. They say they can detect instantly the trees being felled and send in teams on the ground to make arrests. However, critics say historical problems of corruption, lawlessness and inadequate resources undermine the effectiveness of the detailed information the satellite technology is providing. For example, Ibama, Brazil’s environmental control agency, manages to collect only about one to two percent of the fines it imposes for environmental crimes. Brazil also has very strict environmental laws. For example, landholders are normally permitted to deforest only 20 per cent of their property. But enforcing the law in vast areas more akin to the Wild West has proved hugely problematic. What other measures
