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Greenpeace Amazon campaigner in Brazil Paulo Adario said the closure marked an important day for the Amazon.
“A big step forward has been taken in enforcing the responsible use of natural resources and bringing greater governance in the Amazon," Adario said.
"We trust that Cargill will respect the judiciary and conduct a broad environmental impact assessment, which will result in concrete measures to minimise the impacts by its port and soya expansion in the region. In that way, the company will also confirm its commitment to the moratorium on further deforestation for soya planting, announced by the soya sector in Brazil last year."
The orders to close the port came after a seven-year legal battle by the Brazilian Federal Prosecutors over Cargill's failure to provide an environmental impact assessment for the facility.
During this time, Cargill was exploiting the shortcomings of a complex Brazilian legal system and buying time to construct and operate the port terminal without assessing its potentially enormous environmental impacts.
Greenpeace has been campaigning on this issue for some time and last year we released our Eating up the Amazon report, which revealed that the worldwide demand for soya was fuelling deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Also in May last year, we launched a high-profile protest in the region, blocking Cargill's Santarem port with our ship the Arctic Sunrise.
Last year also saw McDonald's being flipped from 'bad guy' to 'good guy' after it was revealed they purchased soya grown on the ashes of the Amazon rainforest. The unique alliance between Greenpeace and McDonald's that followed was instrumental in creating a moratorium on further destruction of the Amazon for soya.
“A big step forward has been taken in enforcing the responsible use of natural resources and bringing greater governance in the Amazon," Adario said.
"We trust that Cargill will respect the judiciary and conduct a broad environmental impact assessment, which will result in concrete measures to minimise the impacts by its port and soya expansion in the region. In that way, the company will also confirm its commitment to the moratorium on further deforestation for soya planting, announced by the soya sector in Brazil last year."
The orders to close the port came after a seven-year legal battle by the Brazilian Federal Prosecutors over Cargill's failure to provide an environmental impact assessment for the facility.
During this time, Cargill was exploiting the shortcomings of a complex Brazilian legal system and buying time to construct and operate the port terminal without assessing its potentially enormous environmental impacts.
Greenpeace has been campaigning on this issue for some time and last year we released our Eating up the Amazon report, which revealed that the worldwide demand for soya was fuelling deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Also in May last year, we launched a high-profile protest in the region, blocking Cargill's Santarem port with our ship the Arctic Sunrise.
Last year also saw McDonald's being flipped from 'bad guy' to 'good guy' after it was revealed they purchased soya grown on the ashes of the Amazon rainforest. The unique alliance between Greenpeace and McDonald's that followed was instrumental in creating a moratorium on further destruction of the Amazon for soya.
