Seminar discusses Biofuel Sector expansion in Brazil

The Seminar “Biofuels: how does civil society contribute in monitoring the expansion of this sector?” took place on the 28th of June, in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais. The main objective of the meeting was to discuss the role civil society plays in relation to the restart of biofuel investment in the post economic crisis scenario. Right at the start of the seminar, the 4 Cantos do Mundo NGO, represented by Cristiane Azevedo, made a general analysis of the theme and emphasized the importance of discussing the subject. The second presentation of the seminar was left for the Redebio’s Operative Secretary, coordinated by Ecoa (Ecology and Action) NGO, which is currently represented by Silvia Santana. Besides showcasing the projects that have been developed by Ecoa in the biofuel area, Silvia presented the work: “Cattle-raising, grains and sugar-cane” developed by the biologist and executive director of Ecoa, Alcides Faria and by the economist Ângela Frata. The study has as a starting point the analysis of the expansion process of the existing grains in the hydrographic region of Parana River, and more specifically, the sub-basin of Ivinhema River, a geo-environmental unit entirely located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. This is one of the regions which attract the most investments in sugar, ethanol and electrical energy producing units from national and international economic groups such as Louis Dreyfus, Adecoagro, Odebrecht, Unialco, and Infinity Bio-energy, among others. Those responsible for the study calculate investments of approximately 18.19 billion reais until the 2014/15 crop, in case all 54 power plants which are being implemented or are at the planning stages are in operation at that time. After the presentations, which lasted all morning, the group work began. The intention was that more tangible resolutions and proposals came out of the discussions so that civil society is able to monitor more closely the transformations caused by this sector in different regions of Brazil. This way, the idea of the creation/constructon of a sustainability matrix was presented. At first, this sustainability matrix will be created on the Sapucaí-Mirim sub-basin (MG) and deal with aspects as: survey of the traditional communities that live in the region, data on agriculture biodiversity, food safety, hydro-geology, identification of existing environmental threats and the identification of possible social factors. The creation of this first matrix would serve as a basis for the creation of others, building in this manner a network of sub-basins that have a complete survey on the biofuel sector expansion and its possible impacts.