Agricultural interests took an upper hand on forestry interests in Brazil last month when the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approved legislation that eases rules on how much land farmers must preserve as forest, according to the BBC.
The bill will leave it up to Brazil's states to determine how much forest farmers must replace along riversides. Farmers say the move will lead to sustainable food product; however, environmentalists say the change will lead to further destruction of the Amazon rainforest. At stake, farmers say, is agricultural investment that accounts for more than 5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The bill is "one of the most controversial to pass Brazil's Congress in recent years," according to a report from Reuters posted on the Huffington Post. It now passes to President Dilma Rousseff, who could veto it; opponents of the bill have launched an online petition in order to sway the president to do just that.
