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Mission 2006
Professor Kip Hodges
Last Updated:
23 November 2002
Team 1: Public Relations, Data Management, Legal, and Political
Marta Luczynska
Mission Statement: Develop a way
to characterize and monitor the well-being of one of the last true frontiers
on Earth -
the Amazon Basin Rainforest - and devise a set of practical strategies
to ensure its preservations.
Team Goals:
-
Our first goal is to research the pros and cons on various data management
systems in order to find an effective system that we can implement on the
data received from other groups.
-
Second, we will research media outlets in order to find out what
kind of information they would need, and hence we can be prepared to distribute
such information.
-
Third, we will investigate laws and regulations both internal and
external that are applicable to our project Mission 2006.
-
Fourth, we will create a model that maps out the power and political
infrastructure of within Brazil and between Brazil and the international
community.
-
Fifth, we will identify necessary target goups and create information
packets for these groups.
Section 1:
Area of Expertise: Characterization
Explanation of Role: Concentrating on finding extra information
on the characterization of the Amazon
Section 2:
Research to Date :
November 14-24, 2002 In the process of trying to find some extra
characterization information, I finally went through the Convention on
Biological Diversity Report. Here are the summarized findings:
-
Intro: Brazil is the nation with the richest biodiversity in the
world (p. 11) It has between 10% and 20% of the world's biodiversity, 12.7%
of the world's river water, and 3.5 million km^2 of coastal and marine
waters. (p.12)
-
Importance of biodiversity:
- Biodiversity as a whole and by its dimensions, represents an incalculable
guarantee, an insurance for the future against the unexpected, providing
alternatives and opportunities
under adverse conditions. (p.12)
- The Commission for Genetic Resources of the FAO (United Nation's Food
and Agricultural Organization) noted that more than half of the varieties
of the world's twenty most
important foods, including those with unique genes allowing adaptation
to different soils, climates, diseases, and pests, have been lost since
the beginning of the century. (p.12)
Therefore, in the future, we will depend more on hybrid species to create
new varieties which can adapt accordingly to the environment so that the
world has adequate food supplies.
- Biodiversity holds the key to substituting increasing scarce materials,
especially true for those of mineral origin. (p.12)
- The agribusiness sector, for example, accounts for about 40% of Brazil's
GNP while forestry accounts for 4% and fisheries for 1%. Products of biological
diversity, such as coffee,
soybeans, and oranges represent 31% of Brazilian exports. (p.12)
- More than 3 million people are employed in plant extractivism and fisheries.
(p.12)
- Plant biomass, including sugar-cane alcohol, firewood, and charcoal from
native and from planted forests, provides 26% of the country's energy demands.
In the Northeast, for example,
this figure is over 50% for domestic consumption and industry. (p.12)
- Demand for the use of medicinal plants is also increasing. This includes
both therapeutic and alternative medicine. (p.12)
- Biological resources can be used to produce the following: pharmaceutical
products such as antibiotics, anti-neoplastic drugs, substances to combat
hypertension, neuroactive substances,
and immunomodulators; and various other products such as materials for
cosmetics, natural coloring agents, flavoring, essential oils, biodegradable
polymers, pheromnones, bioinsecticides
and enzymes (latter two are of biotechnical interest). (p.200)
- Benefits to agriculture (p.219)
~ Stock of organisms allows for natural biological control.
~ The participation and use of organisms in maintaining the natural cycles
(i.e. water, energy, nitrogen, and carbon)
~ Serve as pollinators.
~ Form symbiotic associations.
~ Wild forms have genetic resistance.
-
Specifics on Biodiversity
- Fauna and flora comprise at least 10% to 20% of the world's species.
The flora, has 20% to 22% (50,000-56,000) of the world's described species
of higher plants. (p.12)
- Mammals and amphibians comprise of at least 10% of the world's species.
There are 524 species of mammals, 77 of which are primates. This number
constitutes 27% of the world's total
species of mammals, which makes Brazil the most diverse in this major group.
Amphibians, consisting of 517 species, make Brazil rank second for amphibian
diversity in the world. (p.12)
- Freshwater fish comprise 3,000 species. This is twice the number of species
of freshwater fish in any other country making Brazil the most diverse
in this group as well. (p. 13)
- Brazil is additionally the most diverse in vascular plants, whose species
are estimated to be 50,000. (p.13)
- Other species include: 3,131 non-fish vertebrates, of which 259 are
endangered or vulnerable, and 1,677 species of birds, of which over 191
are endemic. (p.13)
- Most of its economy is based on non-native species. Sugar-cane comes
from New Guinea, coffee from Ethiopia, rice from the Philippines, and soybeans
and oranges from China. Forestry
depends on Eucalyptus from Australia and pines from Central America. Cattle-ranches
use African grasses for pasture, Indian cattle, and horses from central
Asia. Fish-farms depend on
carp from China and Tilapia from East Africa. The bee-keeping industry
depends on bees from Europe and Africa. (p.12)
- The Amazon constitutes 40% of the world's largest remaining rain forest.
3.7 million km^2 lie in Brazil. (p.13)
- About 15% of the Amazon forest has now been destroyed, with the opening
up of highways, through mining, colonization, timber exploitation, and
with the advance of the agriculture frontier.
(p.14) Losses range from 40% loss of native vegetation of the Cerrado,
50% loss in Caatinga, 91.25% of the original Atlantic forest.
- Bryophytes are good ecological indicators since they are extremely vulnerable
and depend on undisturbed vegetation. They are very sensitive to atmospheric
pollution and depend directly
on rainwater. (p.31)
- Brazil contributes 8.05% to the world trade in timber. (p.45)
-
Possible Sources of Funding:
- United Nations Development Program (UNDP), GEF, and the Federal Government
(all of which sponsored the co-coordinating and implementing of the Convention
on Biological Diversity)
(p.14) The GEF also provide d(U.S. $2 million for PROBIO and U.S. $20 million
for the initial capital FUNBIO the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund) (p.15)
- FUNBIO provides long-term support for projects on the conservation
and sustainable use of biodiversity. (p.15) FUNBIO is also the largest
fund for biodiversity projects established in
any country. (p. 196)
- National Environment Fund (FNMA) has financed activities such as
research, training, and implementation of environmental education programs
in and around protected areas.
- The Ministry of the Environment and the Brazilian National Research Council
(CNPq), both of which have helped fund PROBIO (U.S. $2 million each) (p.15)
- FNMA has also supported various initiatives in environmental education,
including training courses, environmental awareness campaigns, publications,
and promotional materials including
videos, booklets, books, periodicals, information leaflets, and audio-visual
material. (p.178)
- Inter-American Development Bank IDB, USAID, WWF, and the governments
of France and Canada These groups have provided funds directly to
non-governmental organizations working
in the areas surrounding protected areas, in general involving programs
for rural extension, cooperativism, and environmental education. (p.68)
- National Environment Program (PNMA) largest source of funding for
federal protected areas. It invested U.S. $25.69 million in protected areas
from 1991-1996. (p.67)
-
Public Relations Agencies
- General Coordination for Biological Diversity (COBIO) purpose is
to plan, coordinate, monitor and evaluate action taken connected to the
conservation and sustainable use of Brazilian
biodiversity, especially those of PRONABIO which is Brazil's National Biodiversity
Program. (p.14)
- National Council for the Environment (CONAMA) formulates and regulates
environmental policy at the national level (p.17), and advises, studies,
and proposes guidelines for government
policies for the environment and natural resources. (p.148)
- Government Council advises the President on the formulation of
national policy and guidelines for the environment and environmental resources.
(p.148)
- The Chamber of Natural Resources Policies formulates public policies
and guidelines for natural resources and coordinates in their implementation.
(p.148)
- The Commission of Policy and Sustainable Development proposes sustainable
development policies and strategies and coordinates the drafting and implementation
of Brazilian Agenda 21.
(p.148)
- National Defense Council proposes criteria and conditions for the
use of security areas of National Territory and gives opinions on the preservation
or exploration of natural resources in these
areas. Also deliberates on matters related to national sovereignty and
the defense of the democratic state. (p.148)
- National Council for the Amazon Region (CONAMAZ) proposes the establishment
and implementation of programs for the sustainable use of the Amazon region.
(p.149)
- National Council of Agrarian Politics (CNPA) proposes adjustments
or alteration in agricultural policy and maintains a system of analysis
and information on the economic and social status
of agriculture (p. 149-150)
- Inter-sectorial Commission for Action to Protect the Environment, Health,
and Productive Activities of Indigenous Communities (FUNAI/MJ) analyzes
and approves programs and projects
put forward by non-governmental and governmental agencies and establishes
priorities on the use of existing financial, material, and human resources.
(p.150)
- The Public Attorney Office has powers to open inquiries and take
legal action for the enforcement of environmental laws. (p.15)
~ PRONABIO has specific tasks including the ?definition of methodologies,
mechanisms and processes; the promotion of international co-operation;
the encouragement of research;
the production and dissemination of information; training of personnel;
institutional support; raising public awareness; and the development of
concrete, demonstrative actions for the
conservation of biodiversity and it's sustainable use. (p.14)
- Migrations due to population increases and sparse income as well as poor
living standards, have resulted in migration from rural to urban environment,
which in turn has resulted in expansion
of agriculture and cattle-ranching, of cattle-ranching, and into preserved
Indigenous lands. (p.38)
- The population of the nine states of the Northern region of Brazil now
stands at about 18 million. (p.39)
- The 1996 Report on Human Development in Brazil by the UNDP predicts that
the population will stabilize at about 211 million around the year 2020.
(p.39)
-
Current Situation in Biomes (verbatim from p.39-40)
- "Amazonia: This is most well-preserved biome, with about 10% allocated
to protected areas, and about 85% of the Brazilian Amazon still forested.
Fires and forest destruction are generally
associated with agriculture, attle-ranching, and selective logging. Amazonia
now provides 70% of the national and 2% of the international demand for
timber, figures which will increase in the
future. Mining is a serious threat to many river systems, and over fishing
has become a problem in some of these systems.
- Cerrado: In terms of area, agriculture and cattle ranching is increasing
by 3% a year. Conversion of the Cerrado ecosystems for economic use involving
the total loss of the original vegetation
now totals 40% of the area, and more than 50% of the remaining natural
ecosystems have been degraded. Burning, both for the maintenance and the
creation of cattle pasture and for plantations,
is a common practice, and results in soil erosion as well as the loss of
biological diversity.
- Caatinga: The natural vegetation of this biome now covers less than 50%
of the original area, and only less than 1% has been designated as protected
areas. Desertification is widespread.
Extensive cattle ranching, agriculture, extractivism, and subsistence farming
have all had major impacts on this biome. Hunting for food is an important
additional factor, especially in the dry season.
- Atlantic forest: This is the most threatened of the Brazilian forest
biomes, with less than 9% of the original area remaining. Around 80% of
the forest is in private hands. Protected areas account
for 2% of the original area. Deforestation is the main threat, for agriculture,
for mono-cultural reforestation and for housing. Subsistence and commercial
extractivism is also an important factor in
the south of the state of Bahia as well as the southern states. The Araucaria
Forest and the so-called Campos Sulinos (grasslands in the south), distinct
ecosystems but considered part of the
domain of the Atlantic forest, have been very severely affected by logging
agriculture and cattle ranching. Weakening of the soil is an ever-increasing
problem. Only about 1% of the original area
has been designated as protected areas.
- Coastal Zone: Chief threats to the Brazilian coastal ecosystems include
real estate speculation, and uncontrolled tourism, over fishing (industrial
and subsistence), destruction and subsistence
exploitation of mangrove swamps, and the pollution of estuaries (erosion
inland, and industrial and urban pollution)."
- The deforested area in the Amazon region is estimated to have increased
from 78 to 501 thousand km^2 from 1978 to 1996. (p.40)
- The Project fro Monitoring of Deforested Areas in the Amazon Region (PRODES)
routinely monitors the forest cover through the national Institute for
Space Research (INPE). It makes a
complete annual census of a region the size of Europe. (p.41)
- The prime cause of deforestation is conversion of forest into temporary
pasture or land for agriculture. (p.41)
- IBAMA/INPE report shows that profits from selective longing eventually
lead to project that involve clear-cutting. (p.41)
- Timber sales from the Amazon constitute 90% of the internal market. (p.41)
- IBAMA investigations show that up to 80% of timber commerce in the Amazon
is illegal and predatory. (p.41)
- Selective logging of just a few tree species is highly wasteful; up to
60%-70% of the trees felled are not marketed. (p.41)
- For the entire Amazon, the number of IBAMA employees in the field
is 280 (but forestry police complement the actions of IBAMA) while the
total number of employees for control and inspection
is 1,263. (p.44)
- Green Protocol aims at promoting sustainable management practices and
slowing deforestation. This program benefits public or private financing
agencies which make resources available only
to the agricultural, cattle ranching and forestry businesses which attend
to the requirements of the maintenance of the Legal Forest Reserve (or
which guarantee to meet them within the space
of 30 years, as determined by Agricultural Policy Law.) (p.44)
- Exemption of the rural land tax (ITR) for areas of Legal Forest Reserves
and Areas of Permanent Preservation as well as other areas which the State
may declare as of interest for preservation.
(p.44)
- IBAMA carried out a major operation in the Amazon called Operation Macaua
during the 1997 drought. The operation resulted in the seizure of 533,000m^3
of illegally logged timber and a similar
operation is carried out each year during the dry season. (p.45)
- During the dry season (June to October), fires are monitored daily by
satellites NOAA 12 and 14. This monitoring has been going on since 1987
and is carried out by INPE (the National Institute
for Space Research) in collaboration with IBAMA as part of PREVFOGO (the
National System for the Prevention and Control of Forest Fires). (p47)
- 5 Main Objectives of PREVFOGO (verbatim from p.50-59)
~ "Rural Extension and Dissemination
To organize prevention campaigns and prepare educational material for dissemination
and distribution at the national level, in order to make the population
aware of the dangers and
damage caused by forest and man-made fires
To train technicians in rural extension to inform farmers and to teach
them the necessary requisites and techniques in the use of fire in agriculture,
as determined by Edict No. 231/P88
of IBAMA.
~ Fire Management
Fire damage in federal protected areas has put at risk the preservation
of their biodiversity and ecosystems. Minimizing the damage will be made
possible through Fire Management
Plans (Planos de Manejo de Fogo) which, by using techniques for the suppression
of and controlled use of fire, will reduce their direct and indirect effects
on the ecosystem and the
community in general. This objective will give priority to the elaboration
of Fire Management Plans for the protected areas annually affected by fires,
especially those in the Cerrado
ecosystem.
~ Monitoring
The Satellite System for Monitoring Heat Spots (Sistema de Monitoramento
dos Focos de Calor por Satelite - SMS) will be set up at the state level,
with the establishment of Fire
Monitoring Centres (Centros de Monitoramento de Incêndi-os), which
will receive detailed information of the location of fires detected in
each municipality. Through these state
monitoring centres, PREVFOGO will be decentralized in the monitoring, prevention
and combat of forest fires.
~ Training
This objective provides continuity for training in fire-prevention and
fire-fighting (formation of fire brigades), aerial combating (training
of pilots) and the training of experts in the
detection of the causes of forest fires.
~ Prevention and Combat
This objective aims to facilitate the prevention and combat of fires in
IBAMA's protected areas. Hiring support staff in the form of voluntary
and temporary fire brigades, as well
as re-equipping permanent fire brigades, will improve the prevention and
control of forest fires in the protected areas administered by IBAMA. The
UNDP support, through the Project
BRA/95/028 - Environmental Macro-monitoring and the accompanying technical
co-operation agreements, are also expected to continue. IBAMA also plans
to step up its activities
through PREVFOGO in environmental education, as well as the prevention
and monitoring (with the Departa-mento de Fiscalização -
DEFIS) of man-made fires and forest fires."
-
Evaluation of Man-Made Fire impacts (p.60-1)
- IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute) study revealedThe average
area per property burnt each year varied from 5% (properties over 5,000
ha) to 19% (properties under 100 ha).
On average, one-fifth of the burnt areas was a result of cutting down and
burning primary or selectively logged forest. 70% of what is burnt today
is in deforested areas (areas comprised of
pasture, forests in regeneration, or other areas of non-forest vegetation).
On average, one-tenth of the total areas burnt is primary forest or exploited
forest.
- Virgin forests act as firebreaks, preventing accidental or intentional
fires from spreading from farmland and pasture. If these forests are destroyed
and are unable to function as firebreaks,
large areas of the Amazon are likely to burn periodically. This will have
a negative impact on biodiversity, reducing the forest biomass and the
amount of water released into the atmosphere
(essential to maintain the water and rain cycles) and making the forest
more susceptible to new fires because of the presence of combustible materials
such as leaves and dead branches.
Enough forest fires can turn the Amazon into a savannah.
- Logging and drought are the two main factors that make the Amazon forest
combustible. Logging leaves gaps in the forest canopy (up to 50%) which
permits the sun to dry the forest floor,
which in turn dries the organic material present. Fires can kill off up
to one half of the fully-grown trees in left in the exploited forest. Also,
fires and removal of trees result in loss of water
to the atmosphere and adverse effects on transpiration and the soil.
More water drains out to streams and river increasing the risk of flooding.
Drought likewise makes large areas of tropical forest more prone to fires.
- Studies in collaboration with INPE show that clearing and burning in
the Amazon region is concentrated in about 100 municipalities in the states
of Para, Mato Grosso, Acre, and Maranhao.
October 21, 2002 The following are a variety
of very informative and insightful websites that cover numerous topics
pertaining to the overall mission:
CBD (Convention on Biolgoical Diveristy) National Report on Brazil
(Provides information on everything from location of indigenous people,
location of federal land reserves, location of forest fires, government
environmental funding projects, list of endangered
flaura and fauna, laws regulating access to and preservation
of biological diversity, and more. It's a lot of information to sort through,
but a good place to research. All of the links are in pdf
format so you will need Adobe Acrobat to view them, and some
of the them might not be working. They work when they want to.)
Section
1 (Introduction to CBD, map of the Brazilian States, Phytogeographic
map of Brazil (vegetation), Invertebrates, Vertebrates, Plants, Micro-organisms
and tables related to these topics)
Section
2 (Census maps, monitoring deforestation, socio-economic pressures
and their impacts, table of original vs. current acres of forests in Brazilian
states)
Section
3 (Maps of monthly variations of forest fires)
Section
4 (More maps of monthly variation of forest fires)
Section
5 (The last of the maps of monthly variation of forest fires, maps
of federal and protected areas)
Section
6 (Maps of location of national forest, ecological reserves, and federal
ecological stations as well as information on international cooperation
in protected areas)
Section
7 (Map of Brazilian Extractivist Reserves and Brazilian ecosystems,
tables of percent protected areas and public visitations of national parks)
Section
8 (Map of indigenous lands in Brazil, herbaria table in different states
of Brazil, lists of threatened species, project funding)
Section
9 (Table of national councils and commissions that deal with environmental
questions, legislation, policies, and programs dealing with biodiversity,
reasons for deforestation, media aspects,
lists of Brazilian agreements, and funding)
Brazil's Program on Monitoring the
Rain Forest (Very informative. Includes the ways in which Brazil will
monitor the rain forest using technolgies such as satellites, etc. 2000-2001)
LBA Research Website
(Contains research performed / to be performed in the rain forest. The
website is split into various subcategories where you can find program
descriptions, sample data sets, etc.
Very useful and factual.Includes specific technologies to be used in the
research (i.e. rainfall measuring devices). Also has many links to other
research projects.)
Section 3:
Goals of the Week:
- Characterizations / Solution compilation
- Further Solution Research
Section 4:
Important Links:
Research Archives: September
23, 2002 (Includes basic research on what to look for in data management
systems)
September 30, 2002 (Continuation of September
23 as well as information on Oracle 9i database)
October 5, 2002 (Includes basic information on
north Brazilian States as well as information on required permits and visas)
October 16-21,2002 (Includes information on laws
regulating import and export of materials as well as preservation of the
environment)
October 27, 2002 (Includes information on the
Allowance Trading System used by the EPA to reduce emissions)
November 3, 2002 (Includes extra information
on Oracle - all its offers/our reasons for choosing)
November 13, 2002 (In-depth information on the
two main laws governing our project in the Amazon)
IBAMA(governing agency of the
Brazilian government)
FUNAI(National Indian Foundation)
(Both of the above websites are not in english so you may want to use
Babelfish
to translate the pages. Just click on translate and enter the website address
in the appropriate box.)
Other Areas of Interest:
Information Systems Management Fall 2000 Issue (Article by Chao-Min
Chiu discusses XML (EXtensible Markup Language) which is going to be for
data what HTML is to documents.
www.braziltourism.org (Brazilian
Tourism Agency website)
1-800-7BRAZIL (call for information concerning Brazil)
Section 5:
Contact Information:
Contact Marta Luczynska via email: mluczyns@mit.edu
Contact Professor Hodges via email: kvhodges@mit.edu
