# Brazil cracks down on Biopiracy



## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

This is one of the big reasons we see so few species from Brazil in the pet trade and why we shouldn't be holding our breath to get frogs out of Brazil in the near future. 

Kingsnake.com BlogWorld - To protect its natural resources, Brazil claims war on biopiracy

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil plans to expand a crackdown on companies that patent products made from rare plants and animals without adequately compensating the South American country or its indigenous communities.
The fight against "biopiracy" has won the support of indigenous communities and defenders of the Amazon rain forest who say corporations unfairly benefit from medicine and other products derived from Brazil's exotic plants, poisonous snakes or brightly colored frogs.
But the effort has sparked criticism that it slows crucial scientific research and arbitrarily targets entrepreneurs that could develop environmentally sustainable businesses.
Brazil has levied more than 100 million reais ($59 million) in fines since July on companies charged with not paying fair compensation for the use of genetic material native to Brazil, said Bruno Barbosa, who heads inspection for the environmental oversight agency Ibama.
Next year, officials will begin pursuing companies that did not notify the government of their use of local species to create products such as pharmaceuticals, as required by law, meaning fines will likely go up.
"Given that (fighting biopiracy) is a new process and that Brazil has one of the biggest reserves of biodiversity in the world, I think most of this activity is illegal, and we're going to find those people," he said.
Barbosa says examples of biopiracy abound, such as the development in the 1970s of the hypertension medication captopril from a snake venom that indigenous groups used on arrowhead tips.
Pharmaceuticals companies also used the yellow-and-green Kambo frog, found in Brazil's Amazon state of Acre, to create anti-inflammatory drugs without distributing benefits to local residents, he said. Many of these incidents came before a 2001 decree that created the current rules governing species use.
The government this year stepped up the anti-biopiracy effort with a campaign known as "Operation New Direction" that aims to crack down on what it calls profiteering.
Fines in 2011 may rise to $29 million each and companies face possible cancellation of patents in Brazil if inspectors find they did not register the use of local species.
One of the biggest fines levied so far was on Brazil's largest cosmetics maker Natura, Barbosa said. He declined to give details on the amount or the infraction because the process is ongoing.
SLOWING RESEARCH
Critics say Brazil's often aggressive efforts to prevent biopiracy threaten to slow crucial scientific research that could provide new cancer treatments or remedies for diseases suffered by local populations.
They said it treats anyone interested in commercial use of rare species as possibly criminal, complicating government goals of developing research facilities near where the species are found to create jobs in those communities.
The government should make the rules clearer because the current system ends up penalizing those that make the most effort to be transparent about their use of genetic material, said Raul Telles do Valle who works with ISA, a think tank on social and environmental issues.
"The current law is very vague on a lot of points, it ends up classifying everybody as illegitimate," he said. "Just passing out fines under the existing framework isn't going to solve the problem."
The law should reflect the difficulty of determining how to compensate local populations from collective knowledge passed down over generations, he said.
Barbosa insists the government's legislation is suitable and that expanding the fight against biopiracy could help reduce the destruction of sensitive environments.
"This is going to enable concrete alternatives that substitute destruction of the ecosystem for new economic mechanisms," he said.
($1=1.7 reais)


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

sad they dont feel the same way about the amazon with all the dam projects they are trying to build


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

Belo Monte Dam - Amazon Watch
Its all about the money


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

bussardnr said:


> Belo Monte Dam - Amazon Watch
> Its all about the money


This is what they will be destroying


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

I have mixed feelings about this...some legit concerns are raised, but I have to wonder if thats not as much propaganda as truth since this impacts companies wallets. But on the flip side I can see Brazil going a little to far, or at least 2 slow and getting in the way of new discoveries and products even if they are done in a sustainable way. The people should benefit from whats going on there though. People shouldn't get a free pass to develop products and then walk away with the goods and the profits without giving the nation something.

And it would be nice if they safe guarded their people/land/species in other ways also, like maybe not building a massive dam that will have a huge negative impact on the people and the environment. (If that is the case...I don't know much about the issue so I can't be sure)


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

Maybe WE should start here?



Dendro Dave said:


> And it would be nice if they safe guarded their people/land/species in other ways also, like maybe not building a massive dam that will have a huge negative impact on the people and the environment. (If that is the case...I don't know much about the issue so I can't be sure)


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

frogfarm said:


> Maybe WE should start here?


Not aimed at you Aaron, just building on the comment..

I always have this thought when people start yelling about another country ignoring the wildlife and destroying it through some form of development... How many waterways are dammed in the US? If one digs back into the history one can find that many states in the north-east were clear cut at one point. I can dig out the dates for New Jersey and if I remember correctly West Virginia was over 90 % clear cut at one point. This is why there is so little old growth timber in those regions... How does a dam compare to excavating a mountain to get at the coal with all of the excess being dumped in local streams as fill wiping out whole ecosystems.. and then the coal is burned releasing mercury which then falls out downwind and ends up accumulating in fish and plants resulting in adivsories on consumption... 

I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries...


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## mantisdragon91 (Jun 2, 2010)

Ed said:


> Not aimed at you Aaron, just building on the comment..
> 
> I always have this thought when people start yelling about another country ignoring the wildlife and destroying it through some form of development... How many waterways are dammed in the US? If one digs back into the history one can find that many states in the north-east were clear cut at one point. I can dig out the dates for New Jersey and if I remember correctly West Virginia was over 90 % clear cut at one point. This is why there is so little old growth timber in those regions... How does a dam compare to excavating a mountain to get at the coal with all of the excess being dumped in local streams as fill wiping out whole ecosystems.. and then the coal is burned releasing mercury which then falls out downwind and ends up accumulating in fish and plants resulting in adivsories on consumption...
> 
> *I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries.*..



That answer is simple. *We are a country of big business first right wing leaning hypocrites.* As some one who lives in the area of the Delaware river watershed that will be directly impacted by the gas drilling happening in North Eastern PA I am just sitting here staring at the lights of the oncoming train. Of course after we are stuck with a polluted water table for the next couple of generations, the apologists on Fox News will come on and explain about how no one could have seen this coming and the gas drillers should not be held liable for the insuing clean up of the water table or medical treatment of people affected by the toxic chemicals in their water. Mind you these are the same people that will scream bloody murder about China's lax environmental policies and how it is giving their industry an unfair advantage as well as about how government shouldn't regulate business.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

NYS and Missuori(amongst others) were clearcut about 100 years ago and came back nothing like they once were. I have a thread about the East coast, specifically NY which no one seemed to care about. We've destroyed our fishing industries here. We get electric from Niagara Falls which we pay the same rates for as NYC and Tennessee(where our energy is lined to) and WE are in the fallout zone of that major target for terrorists. Also we pay the same cost for delivery that albany and NYC do and we can spit on Niagara Falls from here. There is a company up for small fines(the cost of a house or 2 or less) for spewing toxins into our air that cause cancer and if you haven't noticed we can't even drink our water here let alone eat more than one fish meal per week/month depending on the species. Also I don't have city water or sewers or a fire hydrant(doesn't that make this 2nd world city or something of the like). The columbia river gorge has been damned(dammed) all the way up past Boardmen and Walla Walla which hurts the Salmon run and is used for circle pivot irrigation of areas that used to hold cryptogamic soil and scorpions, horned lizards and the like. 82 tons of mercury dumped into, well read below.


This is what's happening in OUR country. And it goes on and on and on and on!!

Chemical and sewage pollution

Today, Onondaga Lake is severely polluted and has been described as one of the most polluted lakes in the United States,[6] primarily due to industrial dumping and sewage contamination.[7]

Fishing for human consumption was banned in 1970 because of contamination from some 82 tons of mercury dumped into the lake over decades by the former Allied Chemical factory complex in Solvay. The lake was opened to allow catch and release fishing in 1986 with The New York State Department of Health has issuing health advisories which warn against consumption of certain fish (e.g. walleye, bass) due to mercury and PCB contamination. Other species are limited to one meal per month.[8]

Swimming was banned in 1940 due to bacteria and water clarity problems. Bacteria levels occasionally exceed state standards due to sewage discharges.[7]
Solvay Process Company in Solvay, New York on Onondaga Lake about 1900

The lake has high levels of mercury, salt, phosphorus, and ammonia due to discharge from a previous local chemical company, Solvay Process. The EPA has declared it a hazardous waste site. Recently, an effort has been made to clean up the water in the lake.[6]

The lake is bordered to the south and west by the city of Syracuse and the suburban area of Solvay, a center of industry in the Syracuse area.[6]

Onondaga County is spending $500 million on a 15-year project to stop polluting the lake with sewage by 2012. The county is under a federal court order to make the lake safe for swimming and fishing and comply with the federal Clean Water Act.[6]

Many of the companies in the areas of Solvay and Syracuse are held to blame for the lake's high concentrations of hazardous chemicals. Honeywell International (formerly AlliedSignal, which was acquired by Honeywell International and took its name) is being held responsible for the clean up of the lake for their mass depositing of mercury and salt over the years. From a large municipal discharge the lake in the summer is generally covered in many areas with algae that creates a vile odor that can be smelled for miles.[6]
Sailboat on Onondaga Lake outside of Syracuse, New York about 1907

By 2010, the water quality health of Onondaga Lake was improving. The past several years have seen a dramatic decrease in ammonia levels in the lake due to improvements made by a city wastewater treatment plant called METRO which contributes 90 percent of the lake's ammonia and almost 50 percent of the phosphorus entering the lake.[6]

Bacteria levels in the lake are still unacceptable for water contact recreation.[6]
[edit] Land rights action

The lake is also the subject of a land rights action filed in 2005 by the Onondaga Nation.
[edit] Fishing improvements

A survey in 1928 showed there were only ten species of fish still residing in the lake.[1]

By 1999, 54 species of fish were captured in the lake since 1990, with sport fishing for large and small-mouth bass drawing national acclaim.[1]

In recent years, areas around the lake has become an overwintering spot for bald eagles.
__________________



Ed said:


> Not aimed at you Aaron, just building on the comment..
> 
> I always have this thought when people start yelling about another country ignoring the wildlife and destroying it through some form of development... How many waterways are dammed in the US? If one digs back into the history one can find that many states in the north-east were clear cut at one point. I can dig out the dates for New Jersey and if I remember correctly West Virginia was over 90 % clear cut at one point. This is why there is so little old growth timber in those regions... How does a dam compare to excavating a mountain to get at the coal with all of the excess being dumped in local streams as fill wiping out whole ecosystems.. and then the coal is burned releasing mercury which then falls out downwind and ends up accumulating in fish and plants resulting in adivsories on consumption...
> 
> I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries...


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## rcteem (Mar 24, 2009)

Ed said:


> Not aimed at you Aaron, just building on the comment..
> 
> I always have this thought when people start yelling about another country ignoring the wildlife and destroying it through some form of development... How many waterways are dammed in the US? If one digs back into the history one can find that many states in the north-east were clear cut at one point. I can dig out the dates for New Jersey and if I remember correctly West Virginia was over 90 % clear cut at one point. This is why there is so little old growth timber in those regions... How does a dam compare to excavating a mountain to get at the coal with all of the excess being dumped in local streams as fill wiping out whole ecosystems.. and then the coal is burned releasing mercury which then falls out downwind and ends up accumulating in fish and plants resulting in adivsories on consumption...
> 
> I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries...


Your absolutely right, but can we not learn from our mistakes and help other countries not repeat ours? The Amazon is a huge back on our environment. It produces 20% of our Oxygen along with containing a very large percentage of our flora and fauna. Look at the Mid Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil that not a lot of people know about. There is only 3% left of what it used to be. Do we really want to see this happen to the Amazon so companies in Manaus can have a better power supply? There are far better ways to power these companies without having to flood millions of acres of jungle and remove 20,000 natives from the homelands.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

But WE haven't learned from our mistakes! Once WE start leading by example, I think we can.



rcteem said:


> Your absolutely right, but can we not learn from our mistakes and help other countries not repeat ours? The Amazon is a huge back on our environment. It produces 20% of our Oxygen along with containing a very large percentage of our flora and fauna. Look at the Mid Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil that not a lot of people know about. There is only 3% left of what it used to be. Do we really want to see this happen to the Amazon so companies in Manaus can have a better power supply? There are far better ways to power these companies without having to flood millions of acres of jungle and remove 20,000 natives from the homelands.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

rcteem said:


> Your absolutely right, but can we not learn from our mistakes and help other countries not repeat ours? The Amazon is a huge back on our environment. It produces 20% of our Oxygen along with containing a very large percentage of our flora and fauna. Look at the Mid Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil that not a lot of people know about. There is only 3% left of what it used to be. Do we really want to see this happen to the Amazon so companies in Manaus can have a better power supply? There are far better ways to power these companies without having to flood millions of acres of jungle and remove 20,000 natives from the homelands.


Considering that we are still cutting down the remaining long-leaf pine forests and replacing them with monoculture fast growing pines for pulp mills have we learned our lesson? 
Coal strip mining has increased in the last 20 years, destroying more mountain ecosystems and water sheds through the mining and the dumping of overburden, there is still a lot of controversy over natural gas drilling as the natural gas companies don't have to release the list of chemicals pumped down the well to facilitate extraction and eventually end up in local wells... 

We have by no means gotten to a point where we can say we have learned our lesson and are practicing the best methods...


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

Ed said:


> I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries...


I had the same line of thought till I started learning more about this damn
Blogs: Amazon Under Threat | International Rivers


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

bussardnr said:


> I had the same line of thought till I started learning more about this damn
> Blogs: Amazon Under Threat | International Rivers


 
Look at the history and time line of events here 

http://www.pbs.org/americanfieldguide/teachers/salmon/history.pdf

Or look at the continued illegal damage to wetlands as exemplified by the case here SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON DEVELOPER PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY FILLING WETLANDS Defendant Filled Critical Wetlands in Effort to Ink Deal for Equestrian Center - U.S. Department of Justice, Washington State Department of Ecology

or look at this case of illegal dumping.. 

AG alleges pair ran illegal Saugus dump 

I would also look at the effects on not only the enviroment but the local communities of mountaintop coal mining.. 

We don't have as much of the overt stuff anymore.. a lot is the death of a thousand cuts or legally done through exemptions granted by congress after millions of dollars are spent by lobbyists.. 

Ed


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## Rain_Frog (Apr 27, 2004)

Who burns the most fossil fuel by driving SUVs, Hummers, etc.? 

US (both us and U.S.) 

And of course, China. 

Realize that most of our large carnivorous mammals-- wolves, grizzly bears, and cougars have been exterminated from most of their former range. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't wolves allowed to be hunted again? (the ones that wandered beyond yellowstone)

Remember how much of a big deal it was to put wolves back in Yellowstone and restore the Mexican gray wolf? A wolf-- not a siberian tiger or asian elephant. We can't even do that as a country it seems.

Recently, there were sightings of puma in Kansas where I live, and there were people wanting to shoot them for fear of livestock damage.


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Ed said:


> Not aimed at you Aaron, just building on the comment..
> 
> I always have this thought when people start yelling about another country ignoring the wildlife and destroying it through some form of development... How many waterways are dammed in the US? If one digs back into the history one can find that many states in the north-east were clear cut at one point. I can dig out the dates for New Jersey and if I remember correctly West Virginia was over 90 % clear cut at one point. This is why there is so little old growth timber in those regions... How does a dam compare to excavating a mountain to get at the coal with all of the excess being dumped in local streams as fill wiping out whole ecosystems.. and then the coal is burned releasing mercury which then falls out downwind and ends up accumulating in fish and plants resulting in adivsories on consumption...
> 
> I have a hard time understanding why it is okay for this country to engage in the same type of practice that raises outrage in other countries...



Oh I'm not at all pleased with the proliferation of Dams in the US in many cases either. No doubt at times the environment, us and species have benefited but they also do a lot of damage. I get new places to fish so thats cool, but then they also destroy habitats, makes spawning of some fish species difficult or impossible etc..etc.. And I definitely don't think it is ok to engage in the same practices here, its just the topic was Brazil in this thread


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

I'm not claiming that our society isn't full of ignorance and stupidity. But its not going to make me any less outraged about what the current Brazilian government is planning on doing with the amazon, against the country's own environmental protection laws even.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

bussardnr said:


> I'm not claiming that our society isn't full of ignorance and stupidity. But its not going to make me any less outraged about what the current Brazilian government is planning on doing with the amazon, against the country's own environmental protection laws even.


Which is fine.. but as I noted above, in the US, industry routinely ignore our own regulations as well both with approval of regulatory agencies 
as an example see Texas, EPA Escalate Battle Over Pollution Rules : NPR and without as I noted above... 

The problems that can result from these sorts of actions are often not short-term readily resolved issues as toxins in the water supply often persist and/or move up the food chain.. wet land remediation does not return the same quality of habitat... 

This is why I find it so interesting that as a society we are very willing to get all upset about what is going on in another country while the same problem(s) still occurs in the US... 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Dendro Dave said:


> Oh I'm not at all pleased with the proliferation of Dams in the US in many cases either. No doubt at times the environment, us and species have benefited but they also do a lot of damage. I get new places to fish so thats cool, but then they also destroy habitats, makes spawning of some fish species difficult or impossible etc..etc.. And I definitely don't think it is ok to engage in the same practices here, its just the topic was Brazil in this thread


It depends on the species in question as species that requires habitat that is maintained by flood cycles are often totally lost or severely reduced or those that require cold water habitat (which is lost through solar heating of the impoundment).. 

If one looks at the statistics for the north-eastern USA.. the only river without a dam is the delaware river. (see http://www.crssa.rutgers.edu/projects/viewnj/pdf/fedors_STS102_359_012.pdf )

Ed


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## karag (May 12, 2005)

And let's not forget about how many forest are cut down to cultivate coffee, tea, palm trees, organic food, etc.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

karag said:


> And let's not forget about how many forest are cut down to cultivate coffee, tea, palm trees, organic food, etc.


Yes except most of this occured many years ago in the US and is/was accepted as a good thing... 
Look at how little old growth is left in the Eastern States... 
Ed


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

There is old growth in the Eastern states? I have seen a couple trees here and there but are there any stands?



Ed said:


> Yes except most of this occured many years ago in the US and is/was accepted as a good thing...
> Look at how little old growth is left in the Eastern States...
> Ed


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## NathanB (Jan 21, 2008)

There is in the south east, I've never seen any around md though


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

frogfarm said:


> There is old growth in the Eastern states? I have seen a couple trees here and there but are there any stands?


Not tight stands.. they actually found small groups of old growth trees on some of the cliff faces and a couple of other spots in New York (even relatively close to the city). Not very much but its there. 

Ed


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## rodrigo (Jan 3, 2011)

Hello everyone
My name is Rodrigo and I live in Brazil
About the question I would give my opinion
The Brazil like any other third world country seeks to develop
without considering the consequences or damage that may cause the planet
it's sad that Brazil's rulers still think of growth so wrong
because we have several places in the country that plants could be built without any loss Aeolic for nature, and are still trying to make excuses for what they themselves do.
In Amazonia issue is further complicated because they want to do is not simply to protect the forest but more money for the opposite case they would have already finished with the deforestation that occurred there or with the growth of cattle farms.
If instead of banning, fining or arresting them legalize creators, researchers and helps users of the proper support companies wanting to do research would be much better for the environment
But not for the government to fine and is easier to hold than monitor
What happens in Brazil today is probably what already happened in developed countries as we are once more in times to preserve all eyes fall on Brazil which I find very good because then maybe the government can improve their thinking

sorry for the mistakes most use the translator

Sincerely rodrigo


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