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Friends of the Earth - Brazilian Amazonia

Information and Dialogue in Amazonian Society

Since 1990, Friends of the Earth has distinguished itself in the monitoring of public policies for Brazilian Amazonia, as well as the elaboration of proposals for decision-makers. Since 1994, four publications have been elaborated in partnership with the Amazonian Working Group on the elaboration of public policies, covering themes like deforestation, forest management, energy, rural credit, infrastructure, agrarian reform, extractivist reserves, indigenous populations and areas, non-timber products, floodplain economies, agroforestry systems, rubber production, the urban question and projects involving international aid, in particular, the Pilot Programme for the Protection of Brazilian Tropical Forests (PP-G7).

The work of the body in this area aims to create viable proposals and suggestions for decision-makers, with a focus on the necessity of bringing policies for different sectors into harmony and creating conditions for the effective implementation of these policies. This work has received recognition from politicians, journalists, officials and observers, in Brazil as well as internationally, becoming a point of reference for all government institutions and non-government organisations working in Amazonia.

The publications produced by Friends of the Earth - Amazonia programme and the AWG have contributed towards showing government authorities - and other relevant actors, such as the World Bank - that non-governmental organisations can offer an agenda for positive change in the development of the Amazon region, based on the principles of sustainable development. In addition to this, local organisations in Amazonia have gained powerful tools for putting pressure on state and municipal governments etc.

For publications on public policies, an informal network of contacts including academics and researchers, as well as representatives of base organisations from the region, was created. This represents a synergy and dialogue which is without precedent in Brazil. It must be remembered that the partnership developed with the Institute of Society, Population and Nature has been of particular importance in this context.

Recently, new means of strengthening this dialogue have been developed, such as for example, the regular collection of articles and editorials published in the Brazilian press relating to policies for Amazonia. The www.amazonia.org.br website also makes a significant contribution to the distribution of information and the stimulation of open and democratic dialogue between actors in civil society, and also between them and government institutions.

Below are some examples of the general results of the work of Friends of the Earth - Amazonia Programme in the area of public policy. They are concrete results, which represent important markers of the mobilisation of society on these themes.

- the monitoring of the activities of the World Bank, as well as the Brazilian institutions which benefit from its loans, in the Amazon region. In 1989, this led to the historically-significant rejection, on the part of the institution's directors, of financial resources for the Xingu River dam. In 1995, this also resulted in the first investigation carried out by the World Bank Inspection Panel in Latin America. This was the case of the Planafora project in Rondonia, which was consequently reformulated in a more participative form;

- our monitoring of the process of granting concessions in National Forests led to an important victory in the courts when an embargo was imposed on an illegal process (on the part of IBAMA) to grant concessions in the Tapajos National Forest in 1997. At the same time, Friends of the Earth - Amazonia Programme has also stimulated a participative process involving NGOs to formulate viable proposals for forest concessions;

- the national and international campaign to establish clear and effective limits to the trade in mahogany, a species currently exploited in a unsustainable form which has resulted in deforestation and forest fires in a large part of Amazonia;

- the regular monitoring, since 1990, of the Pilot Programme for the Protection of Brazilian Tropical Forests (PP-G7). Friends of the Earth - Amazonia Programme has distinguished itself as an organisation which has contributed towards the establishment of the Programme, that has established itself as the principal source of donated resources (although insufficient) for activities in the sphere of sustainable development in the region, particularly benefitting small-scale producers, Indians, rubber tappers, researchers and institutions. In particular, Friends of the Earth - Amazonia Programme has fought effectively for create space for the effective participation of NGOs and society in the Programme;

- made the international community aware of the emergency fire situation in Roraima in February and March 1998, while the responsible authorities were denying the existence of a crisis and even refused United Nations assistance. This denunciation was a determining factor in forcing an emergency response - albeit delayed - and developing the first government fire prevention activities in Amazonia.