The Rachel Carson of Brazil

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

DALY: Yet while the government was sabotaging your park, your colleagues elected you "agronomist of the year". How did that come about?

LUTZENBERGER: It happened !n spite of a bitter backstage fight by ANDEF [an agrichemical lobby that includes some 20 multinational companies]. After the first vote, ANDEF tried to annul the prize ... but a new election was held, and—on that second ballot—even most of the agronomists employed in the chemical industry voted for me! I won 414 to 6.

DALY: That's very encouraging, but has the outlook for Brazil's environment improved as your fame has increased"

LUTZENBERGER: No. Winning that election was only a small victory. It doesn't mean that anything has changed regarding the wholesale destruction of Nature in Brazil. In fact, there has never in the history of Life been a biological holocaust such as the one being conducted here. Thousands of species disappear every year without anybody's noticing. If the zebra, the elephant, the giraffe, or any other wellknown creature were to vanish forever, the passing would be covered by radio, television, and the world press. But every time a unique ecosystem is wiped out (and we've had thousands ruined in Brazil's Amazon basin) uncounted endemic species go with it ... most of which are less conspicuous forms of life such as the small vertebrates or invertebrates, insects, spiders, and rare plants.

And as you know, the Universe is poorer for every species that goes. Each lifeline in the Symphony of Evolution is a unique, irreversible historical process that can be cut off but can never be resumed thereafter. Whether increasing ecological consciousness will, in time, provoke a reversal of this country's practices remains to be seen. I can only hope so for our children's sake, for Life's sake!

DALY: Just what is going on in the Amazon basin?

LUTZENBERGER: One of the most complex and wonderful of biomes is being burned, knocked down by great chains dragged between huge tractors, defoliated with Agent Orange, etc. Entire communities of plants and animals are being irrevocably lost, and in their place are being planted vast monocultures (actually hypermonocultures of a size never before imagined . . . with hundreds of thousands of hectares planted in one crop) or equally big chunks of unnatural pastureland.

And these man-made farms and ranches are—of course—inherently unstable. Most last less than five years and, while they endure, require massive doses of biocides and fertilizers . . . poisons that pollute rivers and lakes and kill wildlife.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print