Brazil and the Environment

Brazil and the environment. Get ready for a scoop.

The world’s fifth largest country has the greatest primate diversity, the highest number of mammals, the second highest number of amphibians and butterflies, the third highest number of birds, and fifth highest number of reptiles in the world. Not only is it home to the greatest amount of biodiversity on the planet, it possesses the world’s largest extent of tropical forest, 145 million acres, equivalent to one-third of the world’s total, and three times that of Indonesia, the nation in second place.

Commitment to the environment is also enshrined in the Brazilian Federal Constitution. Article 225 states: “Everyone has the right to an ecologically balanced environment, a possession of common use of the people, essential to a healthy quality of life, demanding that those in Public Office and the community in general comply with their duty to defend it for the present and future generations.” Chapter VI expands on this right.

So far, so good.

But there’s another, more conflicted side to the story of this emerging environmental superpower. Intense economic and demographic growth has caused problems. Since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed and despite Ibama’s (Brazilian environment agency) assurances that deforestation fell dramatically last year, it remains a serious issue. The discovery of oil off the coast of Rio – 50 bn barrels of it – could also upset its environmental balance, turning the country into a global petro-power.