Brazil's latest campaign to stop illegal deforestation: seizing
the cows that the deforesters are raising.
I expect it will be difficult for deforesters to resist this approach.
They can't hide or move the cows, and if they can't raise cows,
they can't profit from the deforestation (aside from places where
there is gold to filter).
I think some deforested areas are used to grow soybeans to be shipped
elsewhere and fed to cows. The soybean plants can't be hidden or
moved either. But it would be a shame to waste the current year's
harvest by destroying the plants. Perhaps the state can bring in
workers temporarily to harvest and remove the soy beans. This would
still be effective for deterring further deforestation because
the people who expected to profit will not profit.
Brazil should not limit this campaign to land designated as reserves for
indigenous groups. The whole world depends on keeping the Amazon forest going,
and we need to preserve as much of it as we can. Any parcel that can be
identified as having been illegally deforested should get this treatment.
If a neoliberal government did these things, it would push many
desperately poor Brazilians into hoepless poverty. But Lula rejects
neoliberalism; he is committed to helping them escape poverty in ways
that won't do harm.