The Jamanxim River runs through forest in northern Brazil. Vast tracts of protected Brazilian land would be opened to farming under a bill that President Dilma Rousseff, below, may veto. Antonio Scorza / Agence France-Presse / Getty Images

[Petition: Veto Dilma!] By SIMON ROMERO
16 May 2012 RIO DE JANEIRO – President Dilma Rousseff is facing one of the defining moments of her presidency as pressure builds on her to veto a bill that would open vast protected areas of forests to ranching and farming, potentially reversing Brazil’s major gains in slowing Amazon deforestation. The Forest Code, which Congress approved in April at the urging of powerful agricultural groups, is an effort to overhaul Brazil’s 47-year-old legislation providing forest protection. The bill has emerged as a very delicate issue for Ms. Rousseff ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, scheduled to be held here next month. The bill would effectively give amnesty to landowners who illegally deforested areas before 2008, drawing the ire of environmentalists. If the legislation goes into effect, it could allow landowners in the Amazon to reduce obligatory forest cover to 50 percent from 80 percent, and could lead to the loss of as much as 190 million acres of forest, according to the government’s Institute for Applied Economic Research. The bill’s arrival on the president’s agenda comes at a delicate time for Brazil’s government, forcing it to examine its alliances with parties that supported the bill. Brazil is already facing scrutiny over plans for huge energy projects in the Amazon, which Ms. Rousseff has defended. Worker revolts have recently flared at some dam construction sites, while strikes have slowed work at Brazil’s largest hydroelectric project, Belo Monte. “Brazil cannot be allowed to take this step backward,” Marina Silva, a former environment minister and presidential candidate, said in an interview. “Obviously, giving amnesty to those who have destroyed forests heightens the risk of new deforestation.” Equally adamant in their support of the bill are Brazil’s “ruralistas,” legislators representing agricultural interests. They are contending that the new Forest Code is needed to support Brazil’s economy, which draws strength from exports of agricultural products like beef, soybeans, sugar and poultry. […] Other prominent voices in Brazil, which is home to about 40 percent of the world’s rain forests, have weighed in against the new Forest Code, including the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, two of the country’s leading scientific groups. Anger over the bill has spread into popular culture. Exemplifying the sentiment in the entertainment industry, the actress Camila Pitanga broke protocol at an event here this month, calling on Ms. Rousseff, who was present, to veto the bill. Video images of Ms. Pitanga’s statement spread quickly on social media throughout Brazil. […]

Brazil’s Leader Faces Defining Decision on Bill Relaxing Protection of Forests