Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Cheers 2005) a minimum amount of original (i.e., pristine) habitat needs to be maintained within
any landscape. However, for many years, agribusiness groups in Brazil have vigorously attempted
to alter the Brazilian Forest Act (Federal Law 4771/1995)*, in an effort to essentially minimise the
requirement for conservation areas within private property (Almeida and Almeida 2003). If such
efforts were approved by the Brazilian Congress, rules will then benefi t the clear-cutting of for-
ests and savannahs, and reduce the need to restore illegally-cleared native vegetation. Species-area
relationship analysis has projected the extinction of more than 100 000 species if this type of plan
went ahead, a massive loss which will invalidate any previous commitment made to biodiversity
conservation (Metzer, Lewinsohn, Joly et al. 2010). Any increase in the proportion of productive
agriculture may also result in a rise in certain agricultural pests, and thus a higher dependence on
pesticides, as has happened in southeast Brazil.
Population declines noted for several bird species in agricultural areas in Europe and Canada
(Mineau, Downes, Kirk et al. 2005) are suspected to have been caused, at least in part, by the use of
pesticides (McKay, Prosser, Hart et al. 1999; Vickery, Carter and Fuller
2002). The high mortality
rates we note here for Brazil are consistent with existing fi ndings (Eisler 1985; Agriculture Canada
1993; Mineau, Fletcher, Glaser et al. 1999; Mineau 2005) regarding the potential impact that carbo-
furan exposure can have on wild birds.
Given these fi ndings, research must be intensifi ed to evaluate the magnitude of the impact that
pesticides are having on Brazilian fauna and on the modes of application and formulations that
have been banned in developed countries, but that are still in use in Brazil and probably in many
other parts of Latin America, on large commercial scales, with government permissions. Pressure
should be placed on the Brazilian Federal Government, since the continued use of carbofuran and
Rhodamine B is in confl ict with Brazilian Law (Number 7802, July 11, 1989), which specifi cally
prohibits the registration of pesticides (and components) that may cause damage to the environment.
Acknowledgements
We thank Ngaio Richards for the invitation to participate in this topic and Pierre Mineau for his
valued criticisms of this work; Hilton Thadeu Z. do Couto for the orientation of the PhD thesis; Ana
G. Pérez Campos and Cristiane de Almeida Amabilini for assistance in the fi eld and for contribut-
ing important information. We also thank 'Fersol Indústria e Comércio' and 'FMC Agricultural
Products' for fi nancing research, logistic support and contribution of information. AA also thanks
the 'Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia' (FAPESB) for the post-doctoral fello-
wship (2319/2009). Finally, we thank David and Teia Cheeseman, who translated the fi rst draft of
this chapter from Portuguese into English.
Note
*The new Brazilian Forest Act received an enthusiastic preliminary approbation on 24 May 2011.
A vote will be held in the National Senado (Senate), likely in September of 2011, and the fi nal phase
will be for the Act to be passed by the Senado and then the President.
References
Agriculture Canada (1993) Special review of carbofuran insecticide: effects on avian fauna and value to
agriculture. Ottawa: Plant Industry Directorate, 53p. (Discussion Document D93-02).
Alho, C.J.R. and Martins, E.S. (1995)
De grão em grão o cerrado perde espaço. Impactos do processo de
ocupação.
Brasília: World Wildlife Fund, 65 p.
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