Brazilian officials are expressing strong support for the recommendations of an 11-ministry working group that issued a preliminary report last month suggesting ways to curb deforestation of the Amazon. The government created the panel in July, shortly after it announced an alarming 40% increase in the deforestation rate of the Brazilian Amazon from August 2001 through July 2002—at the time, the most recent period for which confirmed figures were available. (See “Lula government scrambles to slow deforestation”—EcoAméricas, July ’03.) In a report slated to be released in final form by the end of this month, the working group urges intensive conservation efforts in what it calls the “Deforestation Arc,” a 60-municipality swath that runs through Pará, Mato Grosso and Rondônia states... [Log in to read more]