Amazonia (Hansard, 18 April 1989)

§ Q4. Mr. Dalyell
To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to her reply of 21 March, Official Report, column 511, if she will make a statement on the further proposals to help Brazil in research into forestry regeneration and allied subjects; and what resources are being earmarked for the conservation of the Amazonian rain forest.

§ Mr. Wakeham
I have been asked to reply.
We have written to the Brazilian Government offering to finance further expert advice and research on the conservation and management of the Amazonian rain forests and on climate change. We have also offered more training in the United Kingdom in environmental disciplines. We have suggested sending soon to Brazil a team from the Overseas Development Administration to discuss those possibilities and any other proposals which the Brazilians may make.

§ Mr. Dalyell
At the top of their list of resource requirements, the Brazilians put the need for four large cargo and two personnel carrying helicopters. Can we help?

§ Mr. Wakeham
Assistance to the Environmental Protection Agency is one of the possibilities which I hope that the ODA team will be able to discuss when it visits Brazil, probably in May.

§ Mr. Jacques Arnold
Will my right hon. Friend ask the Prime Minister to make it clear to the Government of Brazil that there is no intention to internationalise the Amazon basin and that we respect their sovereignty, but, nevertheless, we expect the Brazilian Government to give a lead in conservation in that area and to make clear to the rest of the world the assistance that they require?

§ Mr. Wakeham
The Brazilian Government are well aware of their responsibilities. We are working closely with them and that is the best way to proceed.

§ Mr. Corbyn
Will the Leader of the House give an undertaking that the Government will in no way support the funding of projects in the Amazon rain forest which lead to the destruction of that forest by either the EEC, the World bank or the international monetary fund? Will he also accept that the serious problem of the destruction of rain forests in Amazonia and elsewhere is partly caused by the debt crisis, which imposes an economic system on those countries which forces them to destroy the rain forest and thus damage the environment for the rest of the world?

§ Mr. Wakeham
The Government are trying to assist in solving the problem and I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman should suggest otherwise.