Greenpeace welcomes the extension of the Amazon soya moratorium

Greenpeace welcomes the extension of the Amazon soya moratorium

17 June 2008Print Send to a friend Brasilia, Brazil — Greenpeace welcomes the decision to extend by one year the Amazon soya moratorium, made today at a press conference in Brasilia by the soya traders association (Abiove), together with Brazil's new Environment Minister Carlos Minc, Greenpeace and other NGOs.

The moratorium, which prohibits the purchase of soya from newly deforested areas in the Amazon, or from farmers using indentured or forced labourers, was the direct result of a Greenpeace investigation documented in our 2006 report "Eating up the Amazon" and our subsequent campaign. The moratorium will now run until July 2009. (1)

Several soya producers had begun using rising agricultural commodity prices and global demand for grain to pressure Abiove (2) and traders not to extend the moratorium. A handful even used the global food crisis to justify further Amazon deforestation. "The decision to extend the moratorium against the backdrop of rising commodity prices and the food crises shows that government and industry now understand that it is possible to protect the forest, combat climate change and still ensure food production," said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon campaign director in Brazil.

Greenpeace, together with other NGOs, will continue to help Abiove to bring effective governance to the soya industry in the Amazon. Greenpeace warns however, that a one year extension may not be long enough to build the tools necessary to ensure that soya production does not result in further deforestation. (3)

More:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/releases/extension-amazon-soya-moratorium

These cretins are exactly the same people who got us into this biofuel mess.

How about fighting soya farms in the Amazon, period?

No?

Not yuppie enough?

(B) immediately stop all deforestation for soy agriculture!

Right?