Catholic bishops conference says land conflicts will increase if Codigo Florestal approved by deputies goes into effect

The social activist/assistance program linked to the Catholic Church, Commissão Pastoral da Terra (“CPT”), reports that between 2010 and 2011 there was a 15% increase in violent land conflicts in Brazil. Commenting on the report, the secretary general of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, dom Leonardo Steiner, observed that if the Land Use Law (“Codigo Florestal”) recently approved by the Chamber of Deputies becomes law “the number of land conflicts will probably increase.”

“Unfortunately, the bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies is not a good example of ethics. It favors farmer profits and the export of farm produce. If it is not vetoed it will probably mean more violence in the countryside, more landownership conflicts. It will also mean that future CPT reports will be even more gloomier,” said Steiner, adding that the bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies was “a equivocal model of development,” that made agribusiness a priority over traditional farming.

“We hope that in the future we have a Codigo Florestal that creates the possibility of harmonious relations in the countryside,” the CNBB secretary general concluded.

Meanwhile, spokespersons for the CPT complained that the text of the bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies made environmental laws so flexible as to render them worthless, besides creating an amnesty for perpetrators of environmental crimes, such as the destruction of protected areas.

President Dilma Rousseff has until May 25 to make a decision on the Codigo Floresta