Brazil Increases Environmental Preservation Measures With Sugarcane Zoning Proposal
In an unprecedented initiative, Brazil proposed a new bill of law that will restrict the lands permissible for sugarcane farming and processing. If passed, the bill sent today to the National Congress by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will prohibit the construction or expansion of sugarcane farms and production plants in any area of native vegetation, or in the Amazon, Pantanal (Brazilian Wetlands) or Upper Paraguay River Basin regions. Coupled with the areas not suitable for sugarcane farming, the bill would effectively make 92.5% of Brazil’s national territory off-limits for sugarcane farming and processing. In addition to the sugarcane zoning mandates, the new bill includes a measure to end the practice of crop burning by 2017 in all areas suitable for mechanized harvesting. READ MORE