Report warns on rainforest policies

The rainforest policies regarding the production of biofuel could have a negative impact on the area, it has been warned.

Rainforest policy could harm the Amazon, report says

According to extracts from a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published on environmental website Mongabay.com, agricultural expansion to accommodate an increase in demand for biofuel production could prove disastrous for the Amazon.

Those behind the report - David Lapola of the University of Kassel and his colleagues - warned that the use of the rainforest for biofuel production could cancel out the potential emissions savings of turning to biofuel in the first place.

"Indirect land-use change could considerably compromise the GHG savings from growing biofuels, mainly by pushing rangeland frontier into the Amazon forest and Brazilian Cerrado savanna," he went on to explain.

Oil giants Shell and Brazilian firm Cosan recently announced a team up for the production of biofuel, focusing on sugarcane ethanol production.

Written by Kimberley Homer. ADNFCR-2073-ID-19605490-ADNFCR