Think the Earth

Back to Table of Contents 18,000 square kilometers of forests are lost annually

Blessed by the Amazon river, the rainforest is home to over 4,000 tree species, approximately 60,000 species of plants, more than 1,000 species of birds, and over 300 species of mammals. It is said that over one-quarter of all species on Earth may be found here. Extensive deforestation began here in the 1970s. The debt-laden Brazilian government built roads in the un-developed Amazonian lands, moved its citizen to the area, and promoted development. 5,500 kilometers of transcontinental road construction spurred the development of ranches, mines, and dams. And by the 1980s, rapid deforestation and the infringement upon the culture and livelihoods of the indigenous people, the "Indio," became an internationally recognized issue. Even today, although we may see annual fluctuations, about 18,000 square kilometers of rainforests are lost every year and the persecution of the Indio still continues.
"Why have we not been able to find a fundamental solution to this problem, even though it has drawn so much attention in the international arena for such a long time?" With this question in mind, I left Belem, a city located at the mouth of the Amazon River, and headed to a town in the southwest called Tailandia.

The Amazon river basin, which stretches across Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, is called "the Amazon rainforest". The Amazon covers around 40% of the South American continent, and since 70% of it is in Brazil, reference to the Amazon has come to indicate the Brazilian Amazon. So for this report I visited Brazil. And unless otherwise specified my reference to the Amazon in this report means the Brazilian Amazon.

Back to Table of Contents What a waste! - The way land is being used

From the moment I crossed over the bridge in the outskirts of town, I saw that the surrounding scenery began to change. There were hardly any houses around, and as you can see from the satellite photograph, development continues along the roads. After driving down the road for a while, I began to see the state of the development-stricken Amazon.

Traces of the Amazonian deforestation (JAXA Earth Observation Research Center)
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/imgdata/topics/2003/tp030829.html

Back to Table of Contents Oil palm plantation

Oil palms, which are used to create palm oil, seemed to have been planted in every nook and corner. Palm oil is delivered to us as vegetable oil, biofuel, soap, etc. We often hear it associated with the tagline "environmentally friendly" since they are of vegetable-origin. It is indeed "friendly" to our health as a raw material since it is natural, and this is quite fundamental to our lives. However, at the same time, we must also be conscious that excessive development may lead to deforestation of the rainforest where the raw material is being produced. (Japan mainly imports palm oil from Malaysia, and deforestation due to the cultivation of oil palm is now a grave problem in Malaysia and Indonesia.)

Green boasts skip dark side of palm oil, ecologists say (Japan Times)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060603f2.html

Back to Table of Contents Cattle ranch

I saw a cloud of dust somewhere in the distance, so I stopped the car to find out why. It turned out to be a humongous cattle ranch and the cloud of dust I had seen was caused by　 thousands of roaming cattle. The biggest cause of the Amazonian deforestation is the development of ranches for grazing cattle. It is said 60% of deforestation from 2000 to 2005 may be attributed to grazing. In year one, the forests will be slashed and burned, and the cattle will graze on these lands. In year two, the soil will become poorer resulting in a decrease of productivity, but the number of cattle continues to increase, so even more land will be slashed and burned. This vicious circle leads to deforestation. Recently, some ranches re-cultivate the poor nutrient deprived soil to grow grass for grazing. But I also heard that back then 1,000 cattle were enough to manage a ranch, but today with the drop in cattle prices, ranch owners need to own 4,000 to 5,000 cattle to keep the ranch running.

Back to Table of Contents Lumber mill

There are many lumber mills along side the roads near Tailandia. This doesn't only apply to the lumber industry, but in order to own land in the Amazon, you have to preserve 80% of the forest. Having said that, this is not necessarily adhered to. Many farmers called "invasor" or invaders often illegally occupy land they don't own. They slash and burn the land for farming, and after the soil and harvest become poor, often times they abandon the land and move onto a different area. There are some people who let these invaders slash and burn their lands on purpose, so that they can then take back the land to log illegally or to use it as farmland. Moreover, business owners can and do offer bribes to officials to take advantage of loopholes in the regulations.

Back to Table of Contents Tree plantations

We passed by an eucalyptus tree plantation operated by ranchers who receive financing from the bank. If you look at the profits per hectare, profits from the cattle ranch is around 200~300 real/year/ha, and eucalyptus plantations around 800~1,000 real/year/ha (in the southwest Amazon area), so many ranch owners have a go at running a tree plantation. And according to the Brazilian law, if you plant trees growing in the virgin forest, you may only be allowed to log 20% of it, whereas foreign species such as eucalyptus are not subject to such regulation.

*1 real = approximately 60 yen

Back to Table of Contents Farmland, slash-and-burn

When I visited, it was right before planting began, so there was hardly anything growing on the farms. In recent years, the most imminent threats to Amazonian deforestation that follows cattle ranching and logging is said to be the large-scale cultivation of farmland for growing soybeans for export to Europe and China, a country that continues to undergo rapid economic growth. Such farmland only amounts to 1.5% of the Amazon so far, but momentum for agricultural land development to meet the increasing world demand for i.e. corn, sugar cane, and soybeans is progressing rapidly.

Back to Table of Contents Charcoal kiln

I never would have thought that I would find a charcoal kiln in the Amazon. Most of the charcoal is used as fuel at iron mills nearby. According to what I heard from people who work at this charcoal kiln, workers make 20 real per kiln placing timber inside, and 10 real per kiln for taking the charcoal out. One worker can manage 2 kilns a day so they make about 60 real (about 3,400 yen) a day. By the way, the charcoal from 1 kiln may be sold for 100 real (about 5,700 yen).

Back to Table of Contents Abandoned land

While driving through the Amazon, there were many times when I thought, "What a waste!" To start with, the soil in the rainforest is quite thin, so that the land becomes poor and unproductive both in terms of farming and grazing. So each time the soil becomes poor, the land is abandoned and new land is cleared. Although NGOs and the government are offering guidance for using land effectively, it's not enough to keep up with the breakneck speed of development. According to Jose Benito Guerreiro, a field coordinator who works at the worldwide environmental NGO, "The Nature Conservancy", which undertakes activities to preserve the ecosystems in 32 countries all over the world, "There is no need to clear any more land, even if you take the economic independence of the people into consideration. Effective use of abandoned land will provide enough to feed the current Amazonian population of 33 million." What the Amazon really needs right now is appropriate land management.

Back to Table of Contents Efforts to manage the forest

Regretfully, we often see media coverage about the despairing situation of deforestation. Nevertheless, there are people out there making efforts to manage forests and making effective use of them one step at a time. I visited a forest managed by the CIKEL Group, a wood processor and plywood manufacturer, which undertakes the largest FSC (certification system of the Forest Stewardship Council that promotes responsible management of the world's forests ) certified forest preservation endeavor in Brazil.

In order to log trees according to the forest management guidelines "officially" recognized by the Brazilian government, the logger must keep an annual record of tree species and map out the trees it will cut down. But this is quite labor-intensive, so documents are often made inaccurately. In case of the FSC certification, people must meet even more specific, independent, socially responsible criteria, so that not many companies have come on board yet. I interviewed Mr. Raimundo Nonato, a forestry engineer at CIKEL, to learn more about their activities.

Back to Table of Contents Make the best use of the forest with appropriate management

I heard that CIKEL began its FSC certified endeavor in 2000. Why did you decide to get involved?

Well, we were already involved in forest management back then, but we decided to become FSC certified to better promote our commitment to our clients in Brazil, United States, and Europe. We believed that it would lead to a better corporate image.

What was difficult about getting involved?

We have to be more mindful of the environment and society, to an extent that is not even requested by IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources). We were all quite confounded in the beginning.

What is the extent of your forest management activities?

Mr. Raimundo Nonato says, "Before I got involved in forestry, I was studying agroforestry of cacao cultivation. That's when I became interested in sustainable forest management"

The area we cover is approximately 200,000 hectares, and we are now working on 5 management projects. There are some areas that have not been FSC certified, but in aggregate, we have the largest FSC certified forest in Brazil. This project is supported by a foundation, which aims for sustainable forest management called, Tropical Forest Foundation, funded by American companies such as Caterpillar Inc. Logging takes place on a 30-year cycle, so trees in the same forest will not be cut down for a very long time. But these activities still serve as pioneering efforts in the field of Amazonian forest management. All staff involved in management underwent the regularly conducted FSC training, and these staff provide guidance to those working onsite.

I visited Rio Capim a forest managed by CIKEL. A total of 167,000 hectares of forests are managed by CIKEL. There was hardly any evidence of logging; it looked very much like a virgin forest.

He showed us a map of the area around the managed forests in Rio Capim. The white areas are the untouched forest. Yellow areas are those used for cattle grazing, which are now being transformed into land for tree plantations. The green areas are logged FSC certified forests, and purple areas are logged and managed areas that are not certified by the FSC. And the blue areas are those that have been authorized for logging.

How are the forests managed?

First, we conduct a field survey based on the macro plan using satellite data. Then we monitor in detail how the ecosystem changes immediately before and after logging, and over a 3, 5, and 8-year period. A survey of the vegetation is conducted at a rate of 1 hectare per every 1,000. Every tree in the hectare measuring more than 10 centimeters in diameter is recorded. With appropriate forest management, we have learned that the forests can regenerate. In some cases ranches have been transformed into forests in a matter of 2-3 years. In the forests managed by CIKEL, you will find monkeys, sloths, and other animals. Some workers have even seen leopards.

A non-FSC certified recovering forest logged in 2003. The forest was so rich with vegetation it was difficult trying to find the remains of a logged tree stump. I learned that if logged properly, in 2-3 years, the forests regenerate to the extent that you couldn't tell which trees had been cut down. When trees are logged, the sun's rays reaches the ground, and young saplings that have been awaiting their turn for a long time (sometimes for 50 years) begin to grow.

Cooperation of the government and the purchasers necessary for sustainable forest　management

I happened on people transporting timber (logged about a month ago) from an FSC certified forest. Workers working in groups of threes mark down on a plan the path the tractor known as the "skidder" will take, and then the skidder removes fallen trees from out of the way and carries the logs to the lumberyard.

"Skidder," a tractor used in the forests with fat wheels and a tough body allowing it to push small trees out of the way while it tactfully maneuvers into the pathless forest. It can grab 2-3 logs at a time, drag them to the lumberyard, and skillfully push it to the top of the pile with the blade on the opposite side.

Do you think there is a future for sustainable forest management?

It largely depends on whether the government becomes committed to this program or not. Forest management requires perseverance. (In principle, all logging activities in the Amazon require government approval but) because it takes 3 months or more to get government approval after such submission has been made, this significantly affects business management. In 2005, there was a company that decided to close down its forest management and lumbering business because it couldn't receive a single approval from the government due to government sluggishness. But because CIKEL has FSC certified forests, the approval process is greatly shortened, and it has also proven to be advantageous when we seek financing.
When we first began, the market demand hadn't caught up so we couldn't sell it for very much, but now, there are wholesalers who only deals with FSC certified logs, and it is sold at prices that are 30-40% higher than the regular prices. There are countries such as Netherlands that only purchases certified products, so we believe there is great demand for these products.

It is very difficult to get logging approval from the government. To work in accordance to the law, more time and money is required for bureaucratic procedures than it is required to work in the forest. This certainly may be a factor that contributes to illegal logging. Wouldn't it be better to have, let's say, forest management that scores 40-50 points out of a 100, than a complete clearing of forests and end up with nothing? I realized that a greater understanding among the government and purchasers are necessary to promote forest management like one undertaken by CIKEL.

Accommodation in the forest for employees. Thirty-six forest workers and 90 charcoal workers live here. There is a first-aid station, canteen, football field, TV room, a guest room and even a school for employees who can't read and write. Every month, the employees work for 22 days straight, and then take 8 days off.

A sign that tells you that there has not been an accident for 453 days. The record is 742 days. This sign also bears their slogan "Let's work together to get this number up." The safety management of the employees is another rule of FSC certification.

Back to Table of Contents Educating the future generation

Students from agricultural high schools and universities often visit CIKEL. Especially, students studying forestry stay for 3-6 days to train or intern for 6 months. Students from neighboring schools come visit on field trips 6 times a year. And they also welcome visitors including researchers 4-5 times a month. This, I felt, was evidence of their commitment to share information to broaden the understanding for the Amazonian forest management and to educate future generations.

CIKEL
http://www.cikel.com.br/

Back to Table of Contents Leaving the future in the children's hands

The children love Mr. Sato.

"This is inga. You can eat the white part around the seed. Cupuacu is a kin to cacao and that over there is parica. Sloths love imbauba (cecropia), which is very difficult to cultivate from a seed, but it grows naturally. Even if people slash and burn the forest, nature has the power and capacity to regenerate."

As we hiked through the forest, Mr. Takushi Sato told me about the trees in the Amazon. He works at the Brazilian NPO, ASFLORA (Instituto Amigos da Floresta Amazonica) working especially with children to offer them opportunity to "get to know the Amazon rainforest, to protect it, and to utilize it." After graduating from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, School of International Agricultural Development, he moved to Brazil in 1971 and worked on the forest management and forestation programs at Japanese plywood manufacturer for a very long time. After retirement, he has been devoting much of his time to educating children about the environment as a member of the ASFLORA. After 30 years at a company working on forestation activities, what made Mr. Sato decide to impart his wisdom and passion for protecting the forests to children? I asked him about his commitment to the activities of ASFLORA.

It seems that ASFLORA is a spin-off of the environment education and forestation programs you had conducted at the plywood manufacturer. What is the number one reason why you decided to keep the activities going even after retirement?

Well, I think it is because I loved what I did. Regular forestation (commercial forestation) takes place everywhere around us, but ASFLORA upholds the concept, "Native Forest by Native Trees" advocated by an ecologist, Mr. Akira Miyawaki, which proposes restoration using indigenous tree species. In forests where commercial forestation took place, the trees form neat lines, making the forests less fun and enjoyable. But if you succeed in recreating a natural forest, you will witness that amidst the growth there is competitiveness and coexistence at play. The same can be said for our lives. It wouldn't be fun if we were all alike. Variety makes our lives more enjoyable.

Even if a private company conducts forestation activities, depending on the economy or the business management, it may have to sell the land or cut the trees down. But if we could talk to the children, and discussing what the environment or timber are, and what it means to protect the forests, passing on seeds of knowledge bit by bit, I feel as though they will begin to get to know and understand what forests are and will develop a desire to protect them. And when those children grow up, they would remember what we bestowed upon them. I thought that this would have a more long lasting effect. Although our forestation activity is quite limited if we think in terms of the land area we've covered, I hope that the great many people who were involved in such activities took home with them something important.

ASFLORA (In Japanese)
http://www.eco-future.net/eco/brazil.html

ASFLORA : 2007 Annual report (In Japanese)
http://www.eco-future.net/eco/brazil_hokoku.html

MOTTAINAI : The first forestation overseas. Elementary school students in Brazil, plant 1,000 saplings.
http://mainichi.jp/life/ecology/archive/news/2008/03/20080308dde041040052000c.html
**This is one of ASFLORA's activities. (In Japanese)

ASFLORA's forestation. Children from entire schools or regions take part.

"Teatro na Foresta" is the one of the popular performances of the ASFLORA. Sometimes they put on a performance for not only for schools, but also for people and children of a community at the request of mining companies.

I asked Mr. Sato if he could communicate one message about the current situation in the Amazon what it would be. This is what he said.

Just telling people to protect the forests will not be enough to ensure their existence. If we want to keep the forests alive, we should continue to manage them, and to use them in such a way that would give it value and generate revenue. If the forests have no value, they will quickly be burned down and used to grow crops. People cut trees down and plant corn or grow grass for grazing just for temporary use. And without the ability to maintenance it, when the prices of their produce declines, they rapidly abandon the land. The problem with the land is very difficult and there is so much that cannot be resolved with just principles and legislation. We don't want people to simply say, "don't cut trees" after having seen a typical image of a thick tree being cut down. We want them to also understand the background.

Proper management is required for cattle ranches, farms, and forests. This is the answer we have always arrived at when we thought about stopping the deforestation of the Amazon. I felt that although it may be costly someone has to take on the burden, or the words, "protecting the Amazon" begins to sound like an empty oration.

Back to Table of Contents Let's not just talk about "protecting the Amazon's environment"

When I saw the "Amazon" for the first time, as I was airborne heading to the inland base of the Amazon, Manaus, I inadvertently let out an exclamation of joy and wonder when I saw the great river meandering through the vast rainforest. Although there were some traces of roads, mine development, and deforestation, the mammoth size of the Amazon surpassed my imagination. With such a monstrous forest stretching in front of them for miles on end, I can imagine why people may think that it's alright to "cut down a little bit" of it. What may be referred to as a large-scale development in Japan may actually seem quite small in the Amazon. But if the number of such small-scale development increases, it begins to have a big impact. It is true that logging and agricultural development are being undertaken by major companies and large landowners. And I also saw that lives and cultures of the indigenous people have been interrupted, and how these people had lost their pride. I strongly felt that it is important to keep an eye on the entire Amazon rainforest at all times using satellite observation, to ask people who inhabit these regions to observe rules, and to establish an economy where they can lead lives of independence. And in order to do, I believe that it is crucial that people in Japan as well as all the rest of the world who benefit from the Amazon, whether it be from its food, timber, or minerals, develop a keen awareness, and purchase products that have been imported in accordance to the various rules and regulations.

Mr. Ivan Saeki, a second generation Japanese, who is the executive director of a juice factory that exports its products to Japan, located in Tome-Acu, in the state of Para, told us how strange he felt the one-sided media coverage about the Amazon was.
"Of course I don't think that it is right to cut down and destroy all of the assets (natural resources) that we find here. But why do people always talk about just protecting the Amazon. People think that there are only the jungle and Indio here. But if they want us to protect the Amazon so much, what are the people all around the world willing to do for the Amazon? And are they willing to ensure our livelihoods?"

Moreover, Mr. Guirreiro from The Nature Conservancy points out that the argument that "the Amazon rainforests must be protected" at times completely forgets about the people who live there. "First and foremost, we should think about the people who live in the Amazon who can't live without its blessings, then about protecting the ecosystem of Brazil as a whole, and then to think about the Amazon as a task the whole world must undertake. You, too, reap from the benefits the Amazon offers, so you shouldn't simply tell us to "protect" it. You should also give something back."
Mr. Saeki and Mr. Guirreiro both live in the Amazon and are deeply concerned about the sustainable use of the forests and the conservation of the ecosystem. And I felt as though the essence of the issues the Amazon faces lies in the questions these two gentlemen have posed.

The inner area of the Amazon. Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas has a population of 1.8 million. It is such a metropolis you forget that it's located in the middle of the jungle.