Izabella Teixeira Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9G U

Ministério do Meio Ambiente Telephone 020-3353 2000

Esplanada dos Ministérios - Bloco B - guardian.co.uk
70068-900 - Brasília - DF

October 5, 2010

Dear Minister for Environment,

I am writing on behalf of the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom and our readers
worldwide to ask you to consider a proposal for protecting Brazil’s biodiversity.

The action has been proposed by our online readers and developed by professional scientists. It
is based by scientific evidence.

We believe it will both protect important species and habitat and send a clear signal to the
negotiations at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP10 in Nagoya later this month
that the decisive, concrete actions can and must be taken to halt the alarming decline in global
biodiversity.

Our campaign, Biodiversity 100, has identified 26 achievable actions in a number of countries
and has the support of the international scientific community. We are sharing our proposals with
journalists around the world, who will be able to measure the success of their national and local
governments in implementing the actions we have put forward. For more details of the
campaign please go to guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100.

The specific proposal we request that you consider is to reject the proposed New Forest code
(more details below).

We kindly request you to react publicly to our recommendation, both through national media
and through your statements to the CBD COP10 plenary. We also urge you to consider
including our proposed action when you revise your National Biodiversity Strategy and Action
Plan after COP10.

As a major international media outlet with a global audience, the Guardian takes seriously its
responsibility to report on the planet’s biodiversity crisis. We would be very keen to hear back
from you about your country’s efforts to protect the natural environment and, especially, to hear
of your reaction to our proposal.
Yours Sincerely,

Alan Rusbridger
Editor-in-Chief
The Guardian
CC: H.E. Mr. Raymundo Santos Rocha Magno
Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive secretary, CBD

New Forest code

Action: Reject the proposed new Forest Code

Description: A proposed amendment to Brazil’s 1965 forestry code would reduce

protection of Brazil’s forests, including the Amazon and the Atlantic forest. The amendment
would provide amnesty to any farmers or ranchers who have practiced illegal deforestation,
incorporating over 40 million hectares of land. A key point of the bill is that legal reserves can be
reduced from 80 per cent to 50 per cent of the total area of private properties in the Amazon
rainforest. Forests protected within Areas of Permanent Preservation may be cut by half. Riparian
vegetation currently protected within a 30m width from waterways could be slashed to only 5m.
The Brazilian Congress will vote on the amendment, and then it’s up to President Lula to veto,
although this is unlikely during the run-up to October elections.

Evidence: A letter co-written by six Brazilian scientists in Science in July states that if the new
rules become law it “will reduce mandatory restoration of native vegetation illegally cleared since
1965” and highlight that this will substantially increase CO2 emissions and put around 100,000
species at risk of extinction. Meanwhile a recent paper in Science reported that deforestation in
the Amazon has declined by 47.5 per cent over the past year, according to a satellite survey –
one of the biggest declines in 20 years.

For the full version of this text with links to scientific papers, please visit the Biodiversity 100 site:
guardian.co.uk/biodiversity100