Paulo Rebêlo

Paulo Rebêlo
25 June 2004
Source: SciDev.Net

Brazil has announced a programme that is intended to make it easier to import scientific equipment and materials into the country.

Called ‘easy science import’ (importa fácil ciência), the programme will attempt to meet demands from researchers to reduce the amount of bureaucracy that is involved in bringing scientific equipment into the country (see Red tape on imports ‘is stifling Brazilian research’).

Under the programme, scientists who register with the Council of Scientific and Technological Development will be able to take advantage of financial and administrative benefits — such as exemption from import fees and taxes — that are currently enjoyed by non-profit institutions.

According to the council, any scientist attached to a research institution or centre will be eligible, and about 10,000 students holding scholarships from the council have been automatically registered.

The maximum value of scientific equipment that can be imported has been raised from US$3,000 to US$10,000. And the process will be further streamlined by the fact that the postal authorities will handle the customs paperwork for imported goods, subsequently delivering equipment to the scientists who have ordered it.

Brazil’s minister of science and technology, Eduardo Campos, believes that, as a result of the new programme, most of problems faced by Brazilian scientists will be eliminated. However some researchers feel that further changes are needed, such as getting rid of the limit of import value.

In a recent interview to Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, the scientific director of the Research Aid Foundation of São Paulo (FAPESP), José Fernando Pérez, welcomed the new programme. But he added that there should be no limit on the value of imported research equipment. “Most equipment costs more than the US$10,000 limit,” he says.

Related posts

• Red tape on imports ‘is stifling Brazilian research’ (0)
• GM cow milk ‘could provide treatment for blood disease’ (0)
• Brazilian officials destroy rare fish specimens (0)
• Brazil’s young scientists face job shortages (0)
• Brazil secures cheaper access to scientific journals (0)

Paulo Rebêlo
16 June 2004
Source: SciDev.Net

Brazil has opened a DNA bank to preserve genetic material of its endangered plant life. Its goal is to help protect rare plants threatened by extinction in a country that has the world’s greatest variety of plant species.

The DNA bank, which is based at the Jardim Botânico (Botanical Garden) in Rio de Janeiro, employs five researchers. They plan to collect at least 1,000 plant species each year to ‘deposit’ in the bank. Samples of specimens will be dried out and have DNA samples extracted, after which they will be frozen and stored.

Plants in several areas of Brazil are currently under threat. Perhaps the most dramatic decline in plant diversity has occurred along Brazil’s coast, especially in the southeast, where a large area of botanically-distinct forest — termed ‘Atlantic forest’ — once existed. After decades of mining and urban growth, only one per cent of the original forest remains.

But the Amazon forest, in northern Brazil, which holds the greatest number of plant species in the country, is also threatened by deforestation.

A report published last year by Brazil’s National Institute of Space Research (INPA) says that 25,000 sq km of forest was cleared in 2002. It is the second highest annual rate of deforestation officially registered in the area — after the 29,059 sq km loss in 1995 — and botanists are worried that the process is putting severe pressure on other threatened plant species

The DNA bank will complement two laboratories at Jardim Botânico, where scientists are already carrying out research into plant conservation and the development of plant-based medicines and treatments.

Brazil’s minister of environment, Marina Silva, admits that, despite the scientific value of the new plant DNA bank, the project is still facing financial restrictions as a result of the government’s recent cuts in public spending.

But she is optimistic that the project will still be successful. “We will learn how to make one penny do the work of two,” she says.

Related posts

• Red tape on imports ‘is stifling Brazilian research’ (0)
• GM cow milk ‘could provide treatment for blood disease’ (0)
• Brazilian officials destroy rare fish specimens (0)
• Brazil’s young scientists face job shortages (0)
• Brazil secures cheaper access to scientific journals (0)