Amazon Deforestation Grows As Brazil Vows to Sharply Reduce Cutting

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva was expected to announce today that his country intends to reduce current rates of deforestation by 70 percent in the next decade. His announcement follows a report that 4,600 square-miles of Brazil’s rainforest — an area equal to 40 percent of Belgium’s territory — was destroyed from July 2007 to July 2008, a 4 percent jump from the previous year. The increase, largely attributable to development from a global commodities boom, was the first jump in four years, down from a peak of 11,200 square-miles of deforestation in 2004. Under Brazil’s new plan, the country will seek to reduce deforestation by 2,300 square-miles a year for the next 10 years, a goal it hopes to meet by using funds from Norway and other nations to promote forest preservation.