

Brazil enacts new forest code - tigger
http://www.greenwood-management.com/news/article/brazil-enacts-new-forest-code-186686.html#.UIa8W29wnyy.hackernews

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simonsarris
Both parties are unhappy for opposite sides of the same reason. Too
restrictive says one side, not restrictive enough says the other.

Which means that it's the right amount of compromise! Good on the government
here.

The focus on past offenders is fixing (replanting), not punishment, which
bothers environmentalists. I don't care. I'd rather see progress than
"justice" (revenge).

From here I imagine Brazil's biggest environmental benefits will come from
increased and efficient mechanization, not flat policies. This policy seems to
be as good as we're going to get in a world where a lot of involved parties
want everything.

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gilini
Great comment, I share a lot from your viewpoint.

The thing that bothers me most, though, is how bad Brazil's government is at
enforcing its law. We're kind of OK at legislating (even though our
constitution remain mostly unchanged since '88), but suck at enforcing. That's
one reason why there's still a lot of corruption going on in higher spheres.

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vorg
> further action on the part of Brazil's government will also be essential so
> it will be interesting to see just how strictly this update to the forest
> code is enforced

Perhaps Brazil should get foreign governments to pay for all enforcement, as
it seems foreigners are the ones benefitting from Amazon forest protections.

Converting a huge river system to agriculture and farming for food is what
makes other great powers rise around them, viz China around the Yellow and
Yangzi, India around the Ganges, the US around the Mississippi, Russia around
the Volga, and in the past Egypt and Mesopotamia. Brazil's paying a lot in
forgone development by not chopping down the trees, and should at least be
asking the foreigners who benefit for cash in return for enforcement.

~~~
gilini
I'm not sure if our government would come up with a compelling argument to get
money from other countries. We have a history of succumbing to foreign
financial pressure too easily (reflex from our weak economy), and our
government does almost everything to keep a good relation with about every
country out there.

We're the good neighbor that gets abused now and then for being too soft.

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nathancahill
Good codes are only as good as their enforcement. Guatemala has, in theory,
some of the best environmental and conservation policies of the western
hemisphere. The northern half of the country is almost entirely a "protected
area".

Every morning I wake up to the sound of chainsaws. Narcotics, corruption and
cattle ranching are taking down the rain forest at an incredible pace. The
short term thinking and quick money mentality will be devastating in the long
run.

~~~
dmix
Indeed, neither authoritarianism nor free markets are effective when deep
rooted corruption exists.

