Vale part 2

Well, here we go with the green story of Vale do Rio Doce. As an environmentally friendly megacorporation with operations throughout the world, Vale has decided that it is in their best interest to be green - at least in home base Brazil. According to the Vale website, they are active in the Vale Florestar program which involves the reclamation or re-forestation of part of the Amazon forest. They advertise the planting of 165 million trees within a 3,000 sq.km. area. That is terrific. However the program is forced on them by the Brazilian government which has adopted the policy of preserving what's left of the rain forests. The photos below demonstrate what Vale is doing to the rain forest. They operate the world's largest iron ore mine. How to reclaim that hole and make it whole again is a mystery - most likely impossible. So they are making amends with the government to tidy up other places not directly affected by Vale. Pieces of rain forest that have been decimated by farmers and ranchers will now be reclaimed by Vale. That sure is nice of them.  Their pink diamonds are nice too. However, how does their stewardship of the land in other countries compare? Depends on the environmental policies of that particular country. I'll examine next how far Vale's volunteer environmental conscience extends.