Brazil sets up crisis centre for rainforest
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Brazil has set up a crisis centre to combat increased deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, the nation's environmental minister said yesterday.
Minister Izabella Teixeira said officials had to take action after satellite data showed a significant increase in deforestation over the past two months.
"We created a crisis committee... to determine and combat the causes of this increase," Mrs Teixeira said.
The committee, which will meet weekly, is made up of environmental agents, federal police, highway federal police and state agents. It will coordinate about 700 agents and police officers in the region to fight deforestation.
Satellite images from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research showed 230 square miles of deforestation in March and April, nearly six times more than in the same period last year.
Environmental experts warned that as the global economy recovers from financial crisis, the deforestation rates would rise as demand for soy and cattle raised in the Amazon increases and farmers and ranchers cleared more land to produce those products.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments