The text, which was approved by the House of Representatives last May, also envisages the preservation of vegetation that grows on slopes, hills and riverbanks, known as Areas of Permanent Preservation (APPs).
Today only 27.7% of Brazilian land is used for agriculture and livestock, while 11% of the national territory is native vegetation preserved by farmers inside their own landholdings. Brazil is and will remain being one of the countries with the strictest forestry laws in the world.
“The environment is essential for agriculture. We are more dependent on nature than any other economic activity and we want our forests to be left standing,” says Senator Katia Abreu.
The agricultural and livestock industry represents 22.4% of Brazil’s GDP and it employs one third of the country’s workforce, producing food, biofuels and fibers.
According the World Trade Organization (WTO), Brazil is today the third largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, behind only the United States and the European Union. It is the leading exporter of beef, poultry, sugar, coffee and orange juice. For both the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Brazil will be the country to experience the biggest growth in this sector up to 2019.
For further information on the new Brazilian Forestry Code, please follow the link below.http://www.canaldoprodutor.com.br/forestcode
Notes for the editor:
- According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), only 20.3% of the Amazonian biome is made up of private areas in which the cultivation of food crops and livestock is permitted. The other 79.7% – around 334 million hectares of rainforest – remain the property of the Brazilian State and are preserved. And of the area in which cultivation is allowed, a big part has to be preserved as Legal Reserve and/or APPs.- Over the last three decades, the production of grains in Brazil has more than tripled, whilst the farmed area has grown by only 32.4% – an increase in productivity of 151%. - The project for the new Brazilian Forest Code has been in analysis and revision since 2009 by a special committee of the Chamber of Deputies and, after 33 public audiences in Brasilia and in 16 of the country’s States, with input from ministers, members of the Judiciary Power and Public Ministry, analysts and researchers specializing in agriculture and the environment, farmers, environmentalists and jurists.
About the CNAThe CNA – Confederacao da Agricultura e Pecuaria do Brasil [Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock] – comprises the rural union system, together with 27 state federations and 2,142 unions operating in the country’s municipalities. Headquartered in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital, it forms the national forums for discussions on Brazilian agricultural and livestock activities, ceaselessly acting to defend the socio-economic rights and interests of those who live and work in the countryside.About Senator Katia AbreuKatia Abreu, CNA President since 2008, is a cattle breeder and a forester, and senator of the state of Tocantins. She has also held the presidency of the Tocantins State Federation of Agriculture and Livestock for four consecutive mandates, from 1995 to 2005.www.canaldoprodutor.com.br/forestcode
For more information please contact The Information Company in Seattle, WAPedro Augusto Leite Costa: pedro@theinformationcompany.net / 1-253-218-9542 Katie Gray: katie@theinformationcompany.net / 1-520-904-1722
Source: Brandenton
About 38 percent of all the sugar waiting to be loaded at ports in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, will be shipped to the Middle East and North Africa, according to data from Williams Servicos Maritimos Ltda.
