RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Satellite images of the Carajás conservation units show how, over the years, much of the forest around the area protected by the company has been degraded by exploitation practices.
The investment in a patrolling and sustainable exploration plan for the area has enabled the preservation of 800,000 hectares of native forest, according to the company. Mining occupies some 2% of this total.
The Amazon forest area in the region includes the following units: National Forest (Flonaca), Tapirapé Biological Reserve, Tapirapé-aquiri National Forest, Itacaiúnas National Forest, Igarapé Gelado Environmental Protection Area and Campos Ferruginosos National Park (Parna).
Under the current agreement, worth R$80 (US$15.4) million for two years, the company has a team of 100 environmental security agents supporting ICMBio (Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation), who monitor the forest 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In addition to surveillance, the company performs firefighting operations and provides support with physical and logistical infrastructure to the environmental agency in the area.
In 2020, the forest ranger team conducted a total of 9,835 patrols on foot, by car and by boat to protect the Carajás conservation units. A total of 494 incidents involving illegal mining were prevented as a result of these patrols, with up to 4 occurrences a month in some cases.
Vale’s technical and financial support to ICMbio is also part of the environmental licensing for legal mining activity in conservation units.
In the case of the Carajás National Forest and Tapirapé-Aquiri National Forest units, the sustainable use of resources and mining are permitted in accordance with the environmental laws and prerogatives defined by the agency.
In the fully protected units, such as the Campos Ferruginosos Park, only environmental education activities such as ecological tourism, environmental education and scientific studies are allowed, and no economic activities.
Source: Veja