Monkey business in Brazil

Independent:

In 2000, Time magazine elected Marc van Roosmalen, a Dutch primatologist, as one of the "Heroes of the Planet" for his work in the Amazon.

But even though his research has led to the discovery of five species of monkey as well as a new primate genus, earlier this year he was arrested and sentenced to almost 16 years in jail. He is now out on bail, pending an appeal, but the impact on scientific research has been dramatic.

Dr van Roosmalen's crime was keeping orphaned monkeys (whose parents were slain by hunters) in a refuge at his home in the Amazon without the appropriate permits.

Field research requires approval from up to five government agencies in Brazil. And it can take up to two years to get it.

Last month, a biologist conference in Latin America saw 287 scientists from 30 countries sign a petition stating that the jailing of Dr van Roosmalen was "indicative of a trend of governmental repression of scientists in Brazil".

It is widely speculated that bribes from the timber extraction and soya industries led to his arrest and conviction because of his high-profile actions in seeking to protect the Amazon rainforest. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) is championing his cause in order to bring international attention to the issue.

Brazilian scientists are also furious at the government's behaviour. "Research needs to be stimulated, not criminalised," Ennio Candotti, a physicist who has been the president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, the country's leading scientific body, for the past four years told The New York Times. "Instead, we have a situation in which overzealous bureaucrats consider everyone guilty unless they can prove their innocence."

The petition by the world community of biologists also warned that the treatment of Dr van Roosmalen is unduly harsh and is "already discouraging biological research in Brazil".

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Forest product companies are usually presented as the villains by the environmental wackos in the UK press and this is no exception. They should consider their own contribution to harvesting in the rain forest by limiting the cutting in the US which has more trees in it now than it had at the time of the European discovery. US forest products companies are very responsible about replanting and with the global warming scare they are getting help from companies seeking to "lower their carbon footprint."