April 29th, 1998

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Atlantic Forest, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
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Government announces first steps towards the implementation of WWF's "Forest for Life" Campaign
Brasilia,- Brazil will be the first country to join the alliance
between the World Bank and WWF for the protection of at least 10% of
the world's forests. In a special ceremony, scheduled for 3:30pm on
April 29, at the Alvorada Palace (the President's residence), in Brasilia,
Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso announces plans for the
creation and implementation of 25 million hectares of new protected
areas in the Amazon rainforest by the year 2000, as part of this alliance.
This is an area equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom.
President Cardoso also announces the immediate creation of four new
protected areas, two in the Amazon Region and two in the Atlantic
Forest, with the support of the World Bank and WWF. These new areas
total about seven times more than the area of parks and reserves
created in Brazil since UNCED, in 1992.
These are the first steps taken by the Brazilian government to implement
the pledge made last December to protect at least 10% of the Brazilian
forests, in response to WWF's "Forests for Life" campaign. "The
partnership between the World Bank and WWF will play an important role
in enabling countries that are committed to the preservation of their
biodiversity to implement their projects", says Cardoso in the statement
which will be seen and heard on video at the public event held in
Washington, D.C. also on the 29th, with the presence of the president of
the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, and the Director General of WWF
International, Claude Martin.
"The WWF Living Planet Campaign comes thus at the right moment to
encourage our national efforts in the preservation of biodiversity",
recognizes President Cardoso." This is a bold initiative that will almost
triple the area under protection in the Amazon rainforest", agrees Dr.
Garo Batmanian, Executive Director of WWF Brazil. "This is a major first
step towards conservation of the Amazon, but many more steps are
needed, and we hope our partners further this work", added Dr.
Batmanian.
In his statement, President Cardoso also announces plans for the
creation of additional 15 new protected areas by the end of this year,
totaling further 2 million hectares.
For further information, please contact
Ulisses Lacava, WWF Brazil -
phone (+5561) 248.2899,
fax (+5561) 364.3057