We are close to the “point of no return”, says expert on the Amazon

In an interview with CNN this Saturday (10), the co-chairman of the Scientific Panel for the Amazon, Carlos Nobre, stated that it is necessary to eliminate all deforestation in the Amazon, since the forest is close to the “point of no return”.

“The whole world is watching Brazil, we are going to have to work hard, very effectively, to bring deforestation to zero. Sometimes people talk about putting an end to illegal deforestation but, in fact, the challenge for the Amazon… it is so close to a point of no return, of becoming a degraded ecosystem, that it is better to end all deforestation and start having the largest forest restoration project in the world to save the Amazon,” he said.

The climatologist also commented that the world hopes that Brazil will once again “be a protagonist in seeking sustainable solutions for the planet”. According to him, the return of the Amazon Plan is “very good” news, but also an “enormous challenge”.

“It is the resumption of a plan that, back then, was a response to the deforestation that had exploded in Brazil in 2004. Almost 28 thousand kilometers were deforested in the Brazilian Amazon and this plan was being implemented very effectively and we had the greatest reduction in deforestation . In 2012, we had 4,600 kilometers deforested, the lowest figure since the 1970s,” said Nobre.

For the expert, the country needs to make investments in the “bioeconomy” and resume industrialization.

“This is a challenge for all of Brazil. We have been de-industrializing for decades and there is no developed country that is not industrialized. This challenge is for the Amazon, we have to industrialize, add value to forest products. For example, açaí is a product that brings more than US$ 1 million to the economy of the Brazilian Amazon, but industrialization is still modest”.

Watch the full interview in the video above.

(*Produced by Bárbara Brambila, from CNN, in São Paulo).