27 March 2007 - Santarém,
Brazil — In the heart of the Amazon rainforest
a huge soya port owned by the giant US company
Cargill has just been closed down by the
Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA).
The orders to close the port came after
a seven-year legal battle by the Brazilian
Federal Prosecutors over Cargill's failure
to provide an environmental impact assessment
for the facility.
The port facilities, built by Cargill in
Santarém, has been at the centre
of a controversy as huge tracts of the Amazon
were being destroyed to grow soya which
was shipped from the facility to Europe,
to provide cheap feed for chicken which
is then sold in fast food outlets and supermarkets.
It's been a long struggle. Since 2000 the
Federal Ministry of Public Prosecution (MPF)
has been engaged in legal battle in order
to have a thorough Environmental Impacts
Assessment carried out. However, instead
of complying with Brazilian environmental
law, Cargill has exploited the shortcomings
of a complex Brazilian legal system to buy
time to construct and operate the terminal
without assessing its potentially enormous
environmental impacts.
"This is an important day for the
Amazon rainforest and for its people. A
big step forward has been taken in enforcing
the responsible use of natural resources
and bringing greater governance in the Amazon,"
said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign
Coordinator in Brazil.
"We trust that Cargill will respect
the judiciary and conduct a broad environmental
impact assessment, which will result in
concrete measures to minimize the impacts
by its port and soya expansion in the region.
In that way, the company will also confirm
its commitment to the moratorium on further
deforestation for soya planting, announced
by the soya sector in Brazil last year."
The Greenpeace report, 'Eating up the Amazon'
revealed that the world-wide demand for
soya has been fuelling deforestation of
the world's biggest tropical rainforest.
In May last year, we launched a high-profile
protest in the region, blocking Cargill's
Santarem port with our ship, the Arctic
Sunrise.
Last year also saw McDonald's being flipped
from 'bad guy' to 'good guy' by consumers
after it was revealed they purchased soya
grown on the ashes of the Amazon rainforest.
The unique alliance between Greenpeace and
McDonald's that followed was instrumental
in creating a moratorium on further destruction
of the Amazon for soya.
The suspension of Cargill port activities
in Santarém is the culmination of
years of demands by the local communities
and the people who are fighting the expansion
of soya cultivation in the Amazon. Soya
and other agricultural products are key
drivers for deforestation, threatening huge
loss of biodiversity and contributing to
climate change.
