Indigenous people in Brazil are demanding stricter EU legislation to protect forests in South America. Specifically, it is about guaranteeing their rights and including all ecosystems in Brazil in a law of the European Union for deforestation-free supply chains. “The definition of the term “forest” is very reduced and leaves out a large part of the Brazilian biomes,” said a statement from the indigenous association Apib before Tuesday’s vote on a draft law.
The EU Parliament wants certain goods, for the production of which forests were cut down, to no longer be imported into the EU. This involves products such as soy, meat and leather. In order for the rules to become legally binding, a compromise must be negotiated with the EU states after the vote.
According to the Brazilian indigenous people, the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest would be the only ecosystems a large part of which would be protected from illegal logging if the law were passed in the proposed form. Only a small part of the Cerrado, for example, which has been threatened by deforestation and fires even more than the Amazon rainforest, and the Pantanal, where terrible fires have raged in recent years, are taken into account.
If production in certain ecosystems is particularly controlled, there is a risk that the problems will be shifted to other natural areas. “The indigenous peoples, who live all over Brazil, are already suffering under the pressure of raw material production,” the Apib statement said. Specifically, their areas would be illegally invaded, trees cut down, fires set, people threatened and murdered. (dpa)