Educação pode mudar sua vida

SIR – As a farmer and journalist who has followed the development of agriculture in Brazil for the past 50 years, I think you missed a very important point in your briefing on deforestation in the Amazon: the vast improvement in conservation methods (“The future of the forest”, June 13th). This is partly explained by better education, but also because these methods have been applied in a “no till” system, known as plantio direto in Brazil. This plants seeds directly in the refuse of former crops, protecting the land from erosion, creating organic matter and building soil in the process. Proof lies in the fact that production on soybean farms is increasing. Farmers using these methods are a stabilising element as they set down roots rather than destroy the land and move on. Communities have been established where soil conservation is essential to progress. What is now needed is legislation to enable property rights and to assure that sensible forestry laws make it possible to achieve a decent living. This may require something that simply does not exist in Brazil: a forestry-police department with rangers who are trained, well paid and equipped to get where they need to go.